From: hooker@aristotle.ils.mwu.edu ( BOB HOOKER)
Subject: Re: Washington Window
Organization: ILS
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 19:29:15 GMT

In article <windowURd0_2S9@clarinet.com>, clarinews@clarinet.com (HELEN
THOMAS, UPI White House Reporter) writes:
> 
> 
> 	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- ``Marching in Place,'' a new book on the George
> Bush presidency, stresses Bush's style is status quo and contends that 
> ``a second term will look more like the first only less.''
> 	Dan Goodgame and Michael Duffy, the authors who cover the White House
> for Time magazine, said that if elected for four more years, Bush 
> ``would rely on his instincts, reacting to events as necessary.
> 	``His goals wouldn't be bold, but then his actions wouldn't be
> imprudent,'' they said. ``Like the experienced captain of a cruise ship,
> Bush would take care to coddle the first class passengers, and though he
> would be indifferent to the vessel's course and destination, he could at
> leest be trusted not to sink it.''
> 	In other words: Steady as you go. The 68-year-old president, who has
> been reactive in both foreign policy and domestic affairs, is not
> expected to suddenly emerge as the great transformer, preparing the
> nation for the 21st century.
> 	The book quotes a Bush campaign official, who explains how the
> president will retain the White House. ``Forty percent of the people
> will be with us if we don't scare them,'' he said. ``We need to get
> another 10 percent and one other person. And I don't care if we get
> another person after that.''
> 	The authors argue that Bush has no larger goal for the future of the
> country other than hanging on to his job.
> 	The description ``noblesse oblige'' appears frequently in the book in
> an attempt to show that Bush, to the manner born, has not related to the
> middle class or the workingman.
> 	The authors said in their introduction that ``the president's
> minimalist strategy dovetailed with his core beliefs. Though he
> projected an image of political moderation, Bush is deeply conservative
> in fear of change,'' and is skeptical of government's efforts ``to
> promote social progress'' due to his ``caution and reactiveness.''
> 	They attributed his philosophy of governing to the credo of
> Hippocrates: ``First of all, do no harm.''
> 	Bush's swings on the question of abortion; his opposition to civil
> rights legislation in the sixties, except for one vote in favor of
> public housing as a Texas congressman after first voting to table the
> legislation; and his driving interest in foreign affairs, rather than
> domestic policy are the subject of close scrutiny.
> 	But the abiding theme is that the Bush presidency has been a 
> ``holding action'' with ``no defining real priorities.''
> 	He was described as a ``fiscal conservative'' who like President
> Ronald Reagan ``cut taxes for the wealthy and raised them for everybody
> else.''
> 	``Under Bush the U.S. government collected just as much in taxes --
> about 20 percent of national income -- as it had under Jimmy Carter. The
> difference was that the bottom three-fifths of families, ranked by
> household income were paying more taxes than in 1980, so that the top
> tenth could pay less, and so that the top 1 percent could pay much less.
> ''
> 	``This arrangement nicely served Bush's wealthy core supporters and
> campaign contributors,'' the authors said.
> 	But the book praises Bush for his prowess in taking command during
> the Persian Gulf War and quotes the president as confiding to his
> closest advisers it was a moment for which he had been training all his
> life -- as a World War II pilot, a congressman, an ambassador to the
> United Nations, vice president and president.
> 	``Through it all, Bush radiated an eerie calm and sense of command,''
> the book said. ``Gone was the shrill, arm-waving creature who repeatedly
> reversed himself on taxes, civil rights and abortion. The qualities Bush
> displayed throughout the Gulf crisis -- stubborn resolve and adherence to
> principle, resourcefulness, and foresight were particularly striking in
> contrast with his feckless performnce at home.''
> 	But in a scathing observation later, the athors said, ``When he
> surveyed the home front, Bush was basically content. His relatives,
> friends and campaign contributors were doing just fine.''
> 	However, when Iraq's Saddam Hussein threatened the established order
> and hierarchy ``Bush would go to war.''
> 	Forty-eight hours after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Bush told
> reporters ``the status quo is unacceptable.''
> 	The book said that Bush ``lacks a clear rationale for a second term
> because the imperative that drove his first four years -- re-election --
> will be moot on Nov. 4, 1992.'' And ``absent the political goal of
> winning a second term, Bush would have no star to chart by.''
> 
> 
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