PROJECT FOR CONSERVATIVE REFORM http://www.conservativereform.org
The Moose muses that, up until this point, the previous Presidency may be viewed as more conservative than the current one.
Politics moves in mysterious ways. President Bush has already signed into law a dramatic expansion of the federal role in education. He has violated free trade principles by signing on to increasing trade tariffs (taxes) for steel and lumber. W is about to put his John Hancock on a monstrous farm bill that reverses the conservative reform farm legislation passed a few years ago. After a period of surpluses, we now have deficits as far as the eye can see.
Contrast that with the Clinton years. President Clinton bucked his party and supported free trade and helped pass NAFTA. He signed an historic welfare reform bill that ended the federal entitlement to welfare. He signed the soon to be reversed Freedom to Farm Act which reformed agricultural subsidies. Along with a Republican Congress, he agreed to a balanced budget that helped eliminate the deficit and create surpluses.
Of course, the Moose acknowledges that Clinton only acceded to Republican pressure to sign some of these measures. Sometimes, he had to be dragged kicking and screaming. Moreover, in his first two years, he unsuccessfully advanced a massive government health care plan. However, given all of the aforementioned, who can deny that there were some significant conservative advances under his Presidency?
What Clinton realized was that he had to occasionally play against type and reach out to the right. Similarly, W is now triangulating and playing to the center by occasionally moving to the left.
Both Clinton and Bush were given significant leeway by their respective left and right bases to make these moves. The left acquiesced to Clinton's heresies because of his enemies. Bush is able to defy his conservative base because of the circumstances of the war and his enormous popularity among grassroots Republicans. Also, Bush is cut a lot of slack because he ended the reign of Clinton/Gore.
However, the expansion of the federal government is proceeding apace. Important setbacks in conservative policies are underway. All of this is occurring with a conservative President in the White House. Moreover, during the Clinton years, conservatives were energized to oppose bad policies and promote good ones. Tom Delay may have had more influence on Clinton's Administration than Bush's.
Today, conservatives are cowered by the fear of offending the White House's Mark Hanna. After all, they may lose access to Administration officials for their events. Or even worse, the K Street Right might lose access for their clients if they stand up for principle.
Will conservatives soon grow nostalgic for the Clinton good old days?