The article made an interesting point....
(A 'glass half full' or 'half empty' kind of thing, depends on how you look at it.)
Does a record of Zero Vetoes (while the Congress is controlled by your own Party, and mostly toeing the line on the priorities you lay down....) mean that you are WEAK, or STRONG politically?
"...Bush, however, hasn't even used the veto on legislation he deemed unconstitutional, such as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform he signed in 2002. That can be read as a sign of weakness, says Matthew Spalding, an expert on American political history at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. 'Veto power has withered away from disuse.' "
"Others take the opposite view. 'Presidents who use the veto a lot are weak,' says Bruce Altschuler, a professor of political science at Oswego State University of New York, noting Gerald Ford's time in office.
"More-successful presidents use it as a negotiation tool. When Bush has gone to Congress with [veto] threats, he has been effective," he notes.... |
