It’s a familiar story for those who’ve watched Bush closely over the years. Shortly after the 2000 race, Matthew Dowd started analyzing election data and determined that the center was quickly disappearing. The key to political success, he said, was to govern via polarization. Dowd insisted that Bush and Rove give up on striving for consensus, and instead tear the country in half. As long as the GOP’s chunk was larger than the Dems’, everything would be fine.
After finding some success with this strategy for a few cycles, the plan faltered. Bush’s popularity tanked and Republicans lost both chambers.
And wouldn’t you know it, now Bush wants to be friendly again.
The meal was fit for a queen: caviar, Dover sole almondine and spring lamb. The setting was no less impressive: the upstairs residence of the White House, with its unrivaled vista of the National Mall.
“It’s not Crawford,” President George W. Bush told his guests, referring to the dusty central Texas town where he owns a ranch. “But if you can’t be in Texas, what a view!”
As Representative Chet Edwards, a Texas Democrat, admired the scenery, he said later, he was struck by his presence at the April 17 dinner — his first such invitation from Bush.
Only 20 months before the end of his term, Bush has begun a cross-party charm offensive that many had expected at the dawn rather than the twilight of his presidency. His aim is to make bipartisan progress on a few big issues — such as an overhaul of immigration laws — before he leaves office.
See? Bush just wants to get along with the “Democrat Party.” It would be the height of cynicism to think the president is insincere, and that perhaps political expedience might have something to do with his suddenly-friendly attitude. Heaven forbid. The more intuitive answer is that it just took six-and-a-half years for the president to warm up to the other side of the aisle.
Yeah, that’s it.
