Make Good On Good Intentions
We don’t envy President-elect George W. Bush.
The problems he faces this morning, as he begins in earnest to fashion his administration, are staggering. Next month, he will become the leader of the free world, with a fair number of U.S.
citizens, particularly black Americans, questioning the legitimacy of his office. He’ll take office as the first president in more than a century to lose the popular vote. He’ll face a divided Senate and House of Representatives, featuring powerful Democrats who view his weak standing as their ticket to regain control of Congress.
Some predict Bush will regret the day the U.S. Supreme Court stopped Florida’s unconstitutional hand counts. That he’ll wish Vice President Al Gore had won. Those who believe such things, however, underestimate the president-elect - as Gore did before the presidential debates.
The best thing the next president has going for him is low expectations. That, and the good will of most Americans, who want their president to succeed.
Bush may not have a long honeymoon period with Congress, if he has one at all, but he has a winning personality and a centrist approach to government. He can put some of the post-election partisan bickering behind him if he fashions a strong, bipartisan agenda and truly reaches out to Democrats, naming some to high posts in his administration.
As a result of the post-election struggle, Bush hasn’t had a chance to announce many key Cabinet or White House appointments. But we’re encouraged that prominent African Americans such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice will be part of his administration. Bush needs to appoint other minorities and women to high posts, to prove a Republican administration can reflect America.
He should keep his promises to boost military and education spending but avoid policy initiatives that are destined to fail. In other words, he should push for targeted tax cuts, which have bipartisan support, such as those to eliminate estate taxes and the marriage penalty, but be leery of a major tax-cut package. Also, he should work to build coalitions to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and to change, yet protect, Social Security.
On the other hand, this newspaper endorsed Bush because, among other things, he’s a Westerner with a pro-business attitude. We’re tired of the Clinton administration’s attack on Microsoft, the natural resource industries and our hydroelectric dams. We look to Bush and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, another Westerner, to protect those key elements of the regional economy. Above all, we’re pleased by the subdued reaction from the Bush camp to the news of Tuesday’s high court decision. This is no time for gloating. It’s a time for conciliation.