>doug: and where do they differ appreciably
>in their proposed programs of capital
>stewardship?
Ferguson & Rogers covered this territory in Right Turn: the Reps have historically favored low-wage, more nationally oriented, and smaller biz, while the Dems have been the party of internationalizing, higher-wage, higher-tech biz. Thus the greater Rep emphasis on dereg and tax cutting.
There's also the matter of personality and mass psychology. I know it'd be hard to prove, but I think Clinton's optimistic, indulgent temperament had more than a little to do with the Wall Street mania. The image of him yakking on the phone with a lobbyist, eating pizza, and getting blown by Monica, all almost simultaneously, seems like a distilled image of America in the 90s. Bush pere was a perfect guy to preside over the Katzenjammer from the 80s. Bush fils or Gore would be good guys for the Katzenjammer of the early 00s.
Doug