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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sunshadow who wrote (115496)	12/14/2000 12:30:54 AM
From: sunshadow	Respond to of 769670

Is the Rancor Over? Bipartisanship in Washington may be less elusive than it seems. Thursday, December 14, 2000 12:01 a.m. EST (WSJ OJ) Both political parties might be excused for thinking that Santa left more coal than gifts in their respective Christmas stockings this year. Republicans have control of both the presidency and Congress for the first time since 1952, but under conditions of rancor and a possible recession that will make governing a chore. Democrats, who think President-elect Bush is a legal fluke and believe their party can take Senate control in two years, must nonetheless worry over how they managed to lose the White House in a time of peace and prosperity. While both parties are somewhat dissatisfied with their political standing, that doesn't mean bipartisan cooperation won't happen. For every inflamed congressman on chat shows, there are two or three pragmatic members who want to show the folks back home they are working to accomplish things in Washington. George W. Bush will enter the White House with an ocean liner's worth of baggage, but also low expectations for what he can accomplish. He may well surprise his critics. Mr. Bush won't enjoy the traditional honeymoon granted presidents. Democrats won't wait long to unsheath the long knives. Egged on by their trial lawyer and union allies, they may begin by trying to block Bush cabinet choices for the Justice and Labor departments. His tax cut will be declared dead on arrival, at least until a recession becomes obvious. But a Bush administration may enjoy a honeymoon of a different sort: one afforded by an exhausted public. Polls show an increasing number of Americans are disgusted by Washington food fights and are tuning out. Others are interested in performance-based politics, and only pay attention when the issue is one that directly impacts their lives. Alienation and the public's "show me" attitude may compel both President Bush and Congress to pass significant chunks of a legislative program so they can avoid voter backlash in 2002. There will be gridlock in Congress but it will be reduced on several key issues that already passed Congress with bipartisan support, only to be vetoed by Bill Clinton. Pursuing them successfully over the first 100 days would make both Mr. Bush and Democrats who represent moderate states and districts look good: • Death tax repeal. This bill passed the House in June by 279-136, with 65 Democrats (almost one in three) voting in favor. Only 39 senators opposed it. • Marriage penalty tax. A total of 49 House Democrats supported ending this tax this year and a repeal easily passed the Senate with 61 votes. (Repeal of the 3% excise tax on telecommunicatons also passed both houses with almost no opposition.) • Partial-birth abortion. A ban on this procedure passed in April, with almost 40% of House Democrats and one-third of Senate Democrats voting in favor. In addition, President Bush could make an early push for fast-track authority to negotiate trade treaties. Mr. Clinton failed to win that battle but his lobbying was halfhearted and perhaps even insincere. Democrats would be wise to use their new strength in the Senate sparingly. They may be able to force through a prescription-drug benefit that's to their liking, and Republicans may not have the stomach to fight a filibuster on marginal tax-rate cuts. But Democrats must avoid a "gridlock at any cost" image that could easily be equated with Al Gore's "win at any cost" mentality. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle has already demonstrated his recognition that Democrats will have to pick their fights. Last month I reported that Mr. Daschle had placed a hold on a bill overturning a 1999 Clinton administration order removing polling places from military bases and Army Reserve offices. But after Gore operatives moved last month to disqualify overseas military ballots in Florida, defending the Clinton policy on polling places became risky. This week Mr. Daschle's office denied he had ever placed a hold on the bill, and it now seems headed for passage. The Daschle retreat is a signal that neither party can afford to be seen as obstructionist. It would be in the interest of both sides to harness the public's understandable anger at this year's chaotic voting situation. Political scientists have been warning for years that America has the sloppiest election procedures in the industrialized world, and now people are finally listening. One helpful step would be to pass a bill that has been co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Torricelli (D., N.J.) and Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). It would fold some of the functions of the Federal Election Commission into a new entity called the Election Administration Commission. The new commission's only function would be to study and make recommendations on election administration and supply small matching grants to local governments that want to adopt its reforms. Passage of the Torricelli-McConnell proposal could administer some needed balm to an issue that has inflamed Americans of all backgrounds. There's a chance that because so many people are expecting a Hobbesian state of nature to consume Washington for the next two years, it might not happen. Not everyone has the stamina for constant confrontation, especially voters. A lot of sound legislation has been bottled up during the Clinton years, and if Mr. Bush sticks to a few priorities, there is no reason he can't get most of his wishes fulfilled by next Christmas. One Democratic congressman is relieved by the election outcome: "The campaign showed that a President Gore would have been insufferable to deal with, and his postelection legal tong war would have once again tied the party's fate to a questionable president." So both parties got Christmas presents this year, just not the ones they expected.