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

To: ColtonGang who wrote (115911)	12/14/2000 1:18:26 PM
From: ColtonGang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush’s allies could be troublesome His toughest battles may come against other Republicans ANALYSIS By Howard Fineman SPECIAL TO MSNBC.COM WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 — There was diplomatic news in George W. Bush’s victory speech Wednesday night. He’s going to meet next week in Washington with Al Gore and (though he didn’t say so) probably President Bill Clinton. But if the president-elect wants to tackle his biggest problem head on, he should be busy arranging meetings with leaders of his own Republican Party, since they’re likely to give him more headaches than anyone else next year. WASHINGTON IS a city built on ironies. Now comes a new one. For the first time since 1953, the GOP come Jan. 20, 2001 will control all the branches of government — and yet the new Republican president may have his toughest battles with members of his own party. President Dwight Eisenhower was the last Republican to enjoy, if that is the word, a GOP hegemony in Washington. Then, as now, the Republicans will control the White House and both chambers of Congress. (Embittered Democrats this time around would include the U.S. Supreme Court, since its highly partisan 5-4 vote this week ensured Bush’s election.) Despite Bush’s talk of middle-road conciliation, Republicans at the grassroots are hungry for the party to bring an emphatic end to the Clinton-Gore era, and won’t be easily swayed by the explanation that the Republican majority is too thin to bring much power. But it is. The Senate will be divided 50-50, with Dick Cheney casting the tie-breaking votes; the House majority is almost as narrow. “I was not elected to serve one party, but one nation,” Bush said in his speech. I thought it was the most important line he uttered. But the ardent forces in his own party are likely to be more annoyed by it than Democrats are likely to be reassured by it. Bush put his pet tax-cut project near the bottom of his wish list (education, Social Security and Medicare were listed ahead of taxes) but conservatives — led by Rep. Tom DeLay in the House — aren’t going to want to wait for long, if at all, especially if it seems that the economy is really slowing significantly As I sat on the set at MSNBC Wednesday night, I saw other parts of the GOP’s Rubik’s Cube on display — and it’s not going to be easy for Bush to solve it. First came Sen. John McCain, who made it clear that he would push — right off the bat — for legislation that Bush pointedly did not mention: campaign finance reform. McCain thinks that he and his co-sponsor, Sen. Russ Feingold, have the votes they need (60) to kill a filibuster and pass the bill. Most of the GOP establishment hates the bill, and despise McCain for pushing it primarily with Democratic support. What will Bush say or do? There’s a personal dimension, too. It’s no secret that there’s no love lost between Bush and McCain. He said all the right things about Bush’s speech, but said them only when asked, and then with an expression that was just this side of a grimace. Bush needs McCain on his side. Wooing him will be hard, but no one said the presidency is an easy job. Later on MSNBC, New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman made it clear to Chris Matthews that she — and the pro-choice moderate wing she represents — expect Bush to ignore, or at least not kowtow to, the Christian Coalition right. Whitman wouldn’t mind a Cabinet job, but that’s already under attack from the religious right. How should Bush react to their criticism? “He’ll be the president,” she said. Translation: I’m not going to let you off the hook. You said you wanted an inclusive party and a change of tone in Washington. Let’s see you prove it. Howard Fineman is Newsweek’s chief political correspondent and an NBC News analyst. He is filing regular reports from the campaign trail for MSNBC.com.