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Bush is tacking to the right. He might pay for it in 2004.
BY SETH GITELL

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2003 -- So much for compassionate conservatism. In just one day’s news cycle, President George Bush has set out a conservative course rivaling the most right-wing days of the Reagan Administration. Bush praised an anti-choice demonstration marking the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Speaking in St. Louis yesterday, Bush said: ''The March for Life upholds the self-evident truth of that declaration, that all are created equal and given the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Meanwhile, his chief political strategist, Karl Rove, has scoped out an ambitious domestic plan which involves obtaining bans on late-term abortions and cloning. And, to add insult to injury, the Bush Administration has named a homophobic former Bob Jones University-employee, Jerry Tacker, to the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

This is not the way to capture the vital center. I wrote in November that Republican control of the Senate may end up hurting the president by emboldening the administration to move too far to the right. That seems to be exactly what’s happening. The appointment of Thacker, who has referred to AIDS as the "gay plague" and to homosexuality as a "deathstyle," seems particularly egregious. Certainly these comments are not in synch with the kind of "good-hearted" American that Bush so often speaks about.

The lurch to the right may mean spell electoral trouble for Bush. Drudge has posted an item, citing a new NBC News poll, that suggests only 41 percent of voters would be prepared now to vote for Bush in November. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, whom the same poll put at the front of the Democrats with 31 percent, seems prepared to jump on Bush’s new weakness. Referring to the Thacker appointment, Kerry said in a statement made available to the Phoenix: "President Bush needs to explain how compassionate conservatism seems to include the offensive, bigoted views of Mr. Thacker."

The events this week seem to underline one point. There’s a lot of time between now and November, 2004, for Bush to weaken even further. He may have even more in common with his father than we originally thought.

What do you think? Send an e-mail to letters[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: January 23, 2003
"Today's Jolt" archives: 2003  2002  2001

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