The first Texas politician to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms as governor, his outlook reminds many Republicans not only of his father, who seems larger than ever at the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but also of Ronald Reagan, who taught the GOP the virtues of optimism and the danger of defining itself as merely opposing whatever the Democrats supported. Some elections are about great issues. This one isn't. Some elections portend great changes in the American political landscape. This one won't.
Some elections unleash great waves of passion.
This one doesn't. That's true in the Democratic nomination race, where one knowledgeable, moderate Ivy Leaguer faces another, the only major difference being the size of their suits and the size of their health-care plans. But it's even clearer in the GOP race, where the two leading contenders are using issues to sell their political profiles rather than the other way around. One delights in alienating the political establishment, the other in soothing the political establishment. One uses issues to prove he is courageous, the other uses them to prove he is competent.