The battle begins at home

Under the Bush administration, there is going to be a premium on domestic policies, but not necessarily at the expense of foreign policy, says SRIDHAR KRISHNASWAMI.

THE RITUALS and the hoopla out of the way; the 43rd President of the United States, Mr. George W. Bush, is settling down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and trying to find out what Washington D.C. is all about. For one who has expressed disdain for all that the city stands for - politically that is - the Republican will soon find out that it is not about to change its old ways, even if the first impression from Capitol Hill is one of bipartisan warmth and friendship.

There is a very long way to go for the new President; and Mr. Bush is not even pretending now that he has mastered, or will be able to get by in, the ways of the capital city in the next four years. And for a Republican President coming to office after a gap of eight years, he knows full well that the realm of domestic politics cuts at least two ways - ideology and policies, not necessarily going hand-in-hand.

The bottomline for the next four years is that there is going to be a premium on domestic politics and policies, but not necessarily at the expense of foreign policy. The divisive election was fought on domestic issues and on the differences between Mr. Bush and Mr. Al Gore on things that are quite dear to the American people. And in the election of 2004, the incumbent - assuming that he is in the fray - will be judged for the most part on the goods delivered on the home front.

Mr. Bush appears to have started off in the right direction with something that he has always been known for in Texas - reaching out to the ``other side''. Mr. Bush knows only too well that if he is going to push his Conservative economic and political agenda, he will have to find grounds of accommodation with left- of-centre Democrats many of whom are still miffed that the White House went to the Republicans as a result of a technical decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The success of Mr. Bush over the next four years will depend on how much of the positive and the practical of Mr. Ronald Reagan and Mr. Bill Clinton he is willing to emulate. One of the strengths of the Reagan Presidency was his ability to bring Democrats on board right from the start of his tenure in 1981; and Mr. Clinton's best part was in taking on the Republicans in their own backyard and in many times frustrating the Grand Old Party by taking up its own agenda.

Mr. Bush's conservative agenda goes much further than the $ 1.6 trillion ten-year tax cut proposal. It includes such issues as education, social security, medicare and prescription drugs, to mention a few. And then with Republicans such as the Senator, Mr. John McCain, constantly breathing down his neck, the issue of campaign finance reform is also significant.

It is not without good reason that Mr. Bush has chosen to focus on education and tax cuts as his first major tests in Washington D.C. and on Capitol Hill. Education has always been at the heart of the Bush campaign even if his track record in Texas has been derided by the Democrats; and the issue strikes at the heart of the conservatives' philosophy of getting a critical component of the family and the system back firmly in the hands of local authorities.

``No Child Left Behind'' - that is the essence of Mr. Bush's education plan. The main principle being that the federal role in education is not to serve the system, but the children. Through a mixture of rewards and punishments, the proposal calls for more accountability with a focus on achieving what will work, including teacher improvement and reducing the involvement of the federal bureaucracy.

The $ 47-billion plan had its first teething troubles when Democrats lashed out at the idea of issuing `vouchers' or funds to parents to move their kids out of non-performing public schools into private schools. Democrats argue that there is not only an element of elitism in this concept but that it will cause real trouble to the public school system in the United States. After initially hanging tough on `vouchers', the Bush administration has given signs that it is willing to back off a little.

And as far as tax cuts are concerned, that was only to be expected. With all the noise being made about the economy getting into recession mode, the Republicans are hopeful that the Democrats will also sign on to a proposal that has again been criticised as being too favourable to the rich. Democrats argue that for any tax cut plan to be even considered the national debt must be paid down; making sure there is money for prescription drugs, education and expanding health care.

Democrats such as Mr. Richard Gephardt, Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, have argued that the first step of the new administration would be to reach an overall accord with Congress on the Budget with a view to seeing where the room is for tax cuts.

Mr. Bush has a two-fold challenge in coming to terms with his agenda - he must reach out to both the political Left and the Right; and in many ways dealing with the Democrats is not going to be as big as dealing with his own folks sitting on the extreme fringes. For now, the temptation has been to look at lawmakers such as Mr. Zell Miller, Senator from Georgia, and claim that Democrats have come on board. But there is a long way to go for the week-old Presidency.

And there is yet another challenge for Mr. Bush, over the next four years. After eight successful years, Mr. Clinton may no longer be occupying the White House, but he is very much around. Ex-Presidents are supposed to turn into the ``Wise Old'' category, fade away and show up only on specified occasions. But not Mr. Clinton.

At 54, he is a few weeks younger than Mr. Bush, politically as smart as he was and the Democratic Party will still lean on him, not just for valuable campaign advice but for all that money he rakes in. The ``bad'' news for Mr. Bush is not just the Clintons - Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Senator now - in Washington D.C. or New York, but also that his November tormentor, the former Vice-President, Mr. Gore, is just a few miles away in Virginia.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Will he slip the noose?
Next     : Acrimony still