November 25, 2004
MUCH FOR W TO BE THANKFUL FOR:
Dropping the anchorman (Lexington, Nov 25th 2004, The Economist)
FOR conservative America, it just keeps on getting better. A mere 20 days after the Republicans' clean sweep of the White House and Congress, the American right celebrated the retirement of one of the hated grandees of liberal journalism, Dan Rather. “It's as if the voters just keep on voting,” says one conservative. “And our side just keeps on winning.”
When Jim Jeffords switched parties in June 2001, throwing the Senate to the Democrats, after the bitterly contested post-Election of 2000, more than one pundit started counting down the Bush presidency. Here we are at Thanksgiving 2004 and just consider how many of his major opponents have instead reached the end of their political careers: Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, Tom Daschle, Saddam Hussein, Howell Raines, Dan Rather, & Tom Brokaw. That's quite a kill ratio.
MORE:
And soon Kim Jong Il.
A question that has always intrigued me, one that maybe Bush or Rove will answer in their memoirs: How much did Jim Jefford's switch have to do with the decision to go all out in the 2002 Senate races? Everything from candidate recruitment to assistance in fund raising to, in the final two weeks, the most effective use of Air Force one I have seen in 40 years of watching politics. When is the last time a President of the United States has gone around the country like a man with his shirt tail on fire for an off year election?
The media blames Bush for the lack of bipartisanship, but the enticement of Jeffords (bribery?) with a Committee Chairmanship that he would not have gotten had he not switched parties was a well planned operation, as Tom Daschle's memoirs make clear. I actually knew Rove a little bit back in College Republican days, and I can just imagine him saying, when news of the Jefford's switch came "No more Mr. Nice Guy."
Posted by: Dan at November 25, 2004 08:51 PMTo the list of the vanquished, add Arafat and (so it seems) Qaddafi.
Posted by: PapayaSF at November 26, 2004 01:15 AMI'm betting Castro is on the scrap heap of history before 2008.
Posted by: Bart at November 26, 2004 01:38 AMBush and Rove made zero effort to save Trent Lott's leadership position... and probably gave some guidance to the Senate Republicans that Lott should be taken down a notch. When I see Lott on one of the TV interview shows, I wonder "Why are they paying attention to him?"
So the GOP senators know that Bush has the power to get them reelected, or to destroy their careers if they screw up. Nothing personal, it's just business.
Bill Clinton still had a reputation of sorts in June 2001; it's diminished even more since then. Same with Jimmy Carter. Bush has done much to restore the honor and integrity of the office of the presidency.
Jean Chretien is gone (no biggie), but by 2008 Jacque Chirac will be too. And Robert Mugabe, hopefully.
PapayaSF:
I wouldn't call Qadafi vanquished per se, but he certainly appears to no longer be a threat. Astute of him to decide to be the US's good example for other dictators...
Posted by: mike earl at November 26, 2004 09:46 AMIt is the end of an era - the Vietnam and Watergate era has come full circle. This two-trick pony that liberals have been riding for 30 years has a date with the glue factory. Once they could no longer get a reaction from screaming "quagmire!" or "he lied!" then their repertoire was spent.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at November 26, 2004 12:03 PM