This will force a real choice on the Bush administration. A managerial, Eisenhower-style approach would create the most conservative regulatory policies that the current political system could tolerate. It would then grudgingly give the left those environmental victories it could not block. The shift from a public presumption of the left's moral superiority has already occurred in education, health and social security. President Bush can make policy proposals in those areas that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, like personal social security accounts and school choice.
Today there is an opportunity for similar transformation on environmental issues.
The key to the first term will be this distinction between a managerial and a transformational approach. President Bush is a good manager, and he has assembled a good team of managers. However, his goals are far beyond the reach of normal management. Achieving his agenda will require the kind of national outpouring of support that is normally aroused by transformational strategies. It will be interesting to see how the two blend together in the second hundred days.