Bullock was the chief Democratic power in TX during Bush's days - he and Bush worked well together:
As Lieutenant Governor, he professed a nonpartisan approach to lawmaking, often telling members of the Texas Senate to leave their politics at the door. Bullock unofficially endorsed Republican Governor George W. Bush's presidential campaign even before it got off the ground. At a November 8, 2006, post-election press conference, a reporter from the Austin American-Statesman, who had covered Bush's tenure as governor, asked Bush if he thought then U.S. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi resembled Bullock. The President replied that the reporter's question was an inside joke. The question was a thinly-veiled reference to the close working relationship, well-known in Texas, to have existed between Republican Bush and Democrat Bullock; the reporter apparently was asking whether Bush would be capable of forging a similar bi-partisan relationship with the members of the new Democratic legislative majority in the U. S. Congress.
en.wikipedia.org
About Bush's governorship:
Richards vetoed a bill allowing Texans to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons. Bush pledged to sign it (after he won the election, did so.)[43] Following his debates with Richards, his popularity grew; he won the general election with 52 percent against Richards' 47 percent.[44]
Bush used a budget surplus to push through Texas's largest ever tax-cut of two billion dollars.[44]
Bush extended government funding for organizations providing education, alcohol and drug use and abuse prevention, and reduction of domestic violence, so long as those organizations are religious. He proclaimed June 10, 2000 to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he "urge[d] all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need."[45]
In 1998, Bush won re-election with nearly 69 percent of the vote.[46] Within a year, he had decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
More:
Nevertheless, as the first legislative session of his tenure comes to a close, Governor Bush, by the reckoning of Republicans and Democrats alike, can point to solid achievements in each of four areas that he had consistently identified as his priorities.
In his campaign last fall and throughout the session, Mr. Bush promised Texans education measures that would give more local control to school districts, stricter provisions for people on welfare, tougher juvenile-justice laws and reform of Texas's tort laws.
He never deviated from the agenda, leading some legislators to suggest that Mr. Bush was almost obsessed with the political perils he witnessed in 1992 when his father, accused of lacking a coherent message, lost the Presidency. When reporters, looking for more exciting news, pleaded with the Governor at one point to add a fifth priority to his program, he said: "Sure. Pass the first four things."
But when the final gavel came down on the session last week, Mr. Bush had indeed accomplished much of what he had outlined. Even Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, praised him for going out of his way to discuss legislation, to compromise, and just to be there to hammer out the details of legislation. In fact, for all of Ms. Richards's perceived gregariousness, several Democrats said Mr. Bush, while lower key, had proved far more accessible.
"I loved Ann, I absolutely loved Ann," said Rob Junell, a West Texas Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "But there were times when I needed to see the Governor -- like, right then -- and with Bush I always got to see him. That never happened with Ann. I probably saw George Bush, just he and I talking, 20 times during the session. With her, maybe twice."
Mr. Bush also worked hard to build bridges with the two powerful, long-tenured Democrats at the top of the Legislature, Lieut. Gov. Bob Bullock and Speaker Pete Laney, holding weekly breakfasts with them and sometimes acting almost like an eager student, asking the older men for their advice or historical perspective on some issue.
State Representative Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat who has been among the fiercest critics of Mr. Bush's agenda, says he respects Mr. Bush for pulling it off.
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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0D6103FF937A25755C0A963958260 |
