LoungeMachine
10-16-2005, 06:13 PM
Oct. 15, 2005, 7:40PM
Distance from Bush seems key to '08 race
GOP hopefuls try to avoid being seen as 'insiders'
By DICK POLMAN
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA - Back when President Bush was riding high — before much of the public turned sour on Iraq, before some conservatives got mad about his increased federal spending and his Harriet Miers nomination — it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch. That doesn't seem to be happening.
The Republican hopefuls — as many as a dozen men who already are jockeying for advantage — don't want to be perceived as insiders and heirs to the Bush political establishment. On the contrary, most of them are trying to advertise their independence, to distance themselves from Bush on key issues, to appear as rebels fed up with Washington.
A small sampling:
•Sen. John McCain of Arizona is tweaking Bush for his budget-bust- ing spending binge.
•Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a hero to grass-roots conservatives, is threatening to oppose the Miers nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
•Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska assails Bush on Iraq, contending that the White House is "disconnected from reality."
•Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scoffs at Bush's suggestion that perhaps the Pentagon should be the lead agency handling natural disasters.
•Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, contends that the current GOP establishment, mired in scandals, has betrayed the small-government reform agenda that congressional conservatives brought to Washington 10 years ago.
•Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo of Colorado says that Bush is soft on illegal immigration and hasn't done enough to secure our borders.
"Right now, it looks like 2008 will be an 'outsider' election," said Jack Pitney, a former national party official and GOP campaign aide, "because in 2005, average Republicans don't associate insiders with success. This has been a very bumpy year, and it may get even bumpier. People looking for a candidate might feel compelled to look beyond the party establishment."
That's not traditional Republican behavior.
The GOP tends to encourage and reward presidential candidates who have establishment pedigrees and who have paid their dues.
That rule applies to every nominee since Richard Nixon in 1968.
Ronald Reagan was arguably an outsider in 1980 (he had not served in Washington), but he had run for president in 1976 and was a titular leader of the party.
In 2000, Bush had never run for president, but his establishment family ties gave him insider status.
But the woes plaguing Bush — including the scandals involving indicted powerhouse Tom DeLay and well-wired lobbyist Jack Abramoff (a GOP conservative activist when he first came to town), as well as the legal cloud hovering over Bush strategist Karl Rove — are playing havoc with the traditional GOP respect for hierarchy.
"The scandals we're facing are the consequences of being in power so long," said Matthew Continetti, a conservative analyst who is writing a book about the Republican Party.
"Establishments attract ne'er-do-wells. The question we face is, do we want to continue along the same road?
"During the 2008 primaries, there will be reform candidates making the argument that 'we need to return to our ideals.' "
Distance from Bush seems key to '08 race
GOP hopefuls try to avoid being seen as 'insiders'
By DICK POLMAN
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA - Back when President Bush was riding high — before much of the public turned sour on Iraq, before some conservatives got mad about his increased federal spending and his Harriet Miers nomination — it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch. That doesn't seem to be happening.
The Republican hopefuls — as many as a dozen men who already are jockeying for advantage — don't want to be perceived as insiders and heirs to the Bush political establishment. On the contrary, most of them are trying to advertise their independence, to distance themselves from Bush on key issues, to appear as rebels fed up with Washington.
A small sampling:
•Sen. John McCain of Arizona is tweaking Bush for his budget-bust- ing spending binge.
•Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a hero to grass-roots conservatives, is threatening to oppose the Miers nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
•Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska assails Bush on Iraq, contending that the White House is "disconnected from reality."
•Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scoffs at Bush's suggestion that perhaps the Pentagon should be the lead agency handling natural disasters.
•Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, contends that the current GOP establishment, mired in scandals, has betrayed the small-government reform agenda that congressional conservatives brought to Washington 10 years ago.
•Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo of Colorado says that Bush is soft on illegal immigration and hasn't done enough to secure our borders.
"Right now, it looks like 2008 will be an 'outsider' election," said Jack Pitney, a former national party official and GOP campaign aide, "because in 2005, average Republicans don't associate insiders with success. This has been a very bumpy year, and it may get even bumpier. People looking for a candidate might feel compelled to look beyond the party establishment."
That's not traditional Republican behavior.
The GOP tends to encourage and reward presidential candidates who have establishment pedigrees and who have paid their dues.
That rule applies to every nominee since Richard Nixon in 1968.
Ronald Reagan was arguably an outsider in 1980 (he had not served in Washington), but he had run for president in 1976 and was a titular leader of the party.
In 2000, Bush had never run for president, but his establishment family ties gave him insider status.
But the woes plaguing Bush — including the scandals involving indicted powerhouse Tom DeLay and well-wired lobbyist Jack Abramoff (a GOP conservative activist when he first came to town), as well as the legal cloud hovering over Bush strategist Karl Rove — are playing havoc with the traditional GOP respect for hierarchy.
"The scandals we're facing are the consequences of being in power so long," said Matthew Continetti, a conservative analyst who is writing a book about the Republican Party.
"Establishments attract ne'er-do-wells. The question we face is, do we want to continue along the same road?
"During the 2008 primaries, there will be reform candidates making the argument that 'we need to return to our ideals.' "