The characteristic difference is education. At the same time, Bush is considerably more conservative than his father, former President Bush, whose administration often seemed neither so much centrist nor conservative as adrift. In that latter goal, he's not lacking for ambition. We are conservative on taxes and we have a compassionate conservative approach on social policy. Those things are not in tension.
People can focus on one or the other, but they are going to both be there.
In this balancing act, Bush has offered new government programs on only a limited set of issues. Education has been the most prominent, but his budget also contains a series of proposals clustered around the problems of urban communities and working-poor families. In almost all cases, Bush proposes something less than new federal spending programs. Tax credits are at the heart of his plans to increase home ownership and spread health insurance. The common thread is to use government as a catalyst that activates market forces or local organizations.