Bush’s Real Election Gamble: Tax Cuts and Social Security Reform

The liberal media would have you believe that this election was about anything but the issues. They’re characterizing it only in personal terms, as a win for President Bush.

“President Bush pushed an unusually big political bet onto the table in yesterday’s election — and it paid off.” Washington Post

Clearly, Bush and the GOP won big yesterday. But, don’t let the media and Beltway crowd try to chalk this up to some kind of personality cult (Dan Rather, for example, was talking on CBS about “the Bushification of America”). The media wants to ignore the reality: the American people want the Bush agenda. Bush’s gamble wasn’t on the campaign trail in the last month; rather, he was cashing in on smart policy bets he placed over the past two years.

Bush’s real gamble was to call for personal retirement accounts at a time when Social Security scare tactics were freezing politicians in their tracks.

Bush’s gamble was continuing to nominate principled judges, even when the Daschle Senate refused to even allow votes.

Bush’s gamble was supporting American energy security, including oil exploration in Alaska.

Bush took smart risks in 2000, when he campaigned on an across-the-board tax cuts, and again a year later when he fought to pass tax relief.

Clearly, there is a positive bounce whenever a popular president appears in a community on behalf of local candidates. But, every president has that tool, and until today, in our history no other mid-term election saw the president’s party make these kinds of gains. It’s not so much Bush the personality, but rather the vision and the issues that Bush stands for that motivated voters this election.

If this election was merely about “personality,” why did the Bill Clinton, who is still stylish to many, fail to mobilize voters? Peggy Noonan coined the term “Clinton Thud” last night, because the former President failed to produce a bounce in any of the races he worked. That’s because this election wasn’t about personality, it was about issues, and Bill Clinton doesn’t have anything positive to say about taxes and Social Security reform.

What’s more, the liberal media will never credit the election outcome to the issues of tax cuts, energy security, reform of Social Security, or confirming conservative judges. These are, by the way, the same “analysts” who declared that the Bush presidency would be hamstrung because it he lacked a popular majority in 2002. It’s no surprise that the last thing the media will do is recognize that yesterday, voters gave a mandate for action on Social Security and tax reform.

Consider, for example, the off-base and negative New York Times analysis of the election:

“The nation voted on Tuesday in a mood of disenchantment and disconnection from the political system… With pep rallies devoid of pep and stump speeches that stirred few voters, the campaign that led up to the balloting was nevertheless notably lifeless and cheerless.”

That’s an absurd statement—the only thing “disenchanted” and “cheerless” is the liberal media’s dejected coverage of a new tide in favor of lower taxes and less government. This campaign season was exciting and healthy. There was a mobilizing, national battle over control of the Senate that focused attention on multiple races that went down to the wire. Turnout was strong. In South Dakota, for example, state officials estimated that turnout reached 75 percent of eligible voters, an off-year record.

Many of these campaigns saw a real debate about issues, and, best of all, Democrat scare-tactics on Social Security and the economy fell flat in the face of CSE’s grassroots educational campaign. CSE and our members were excited— because we knew this election was a fight about important issues like tax code and Social Security reform.

The Democrats lost because they never had a plan for any of these issues. Aside from tax cuts, Bush’s record on the economy—particularly government spending and trade—is uneven and open to attack. Democrats could have engaged the country against the orgy of new programs and spending in Washington, but they did not. They could have called for a tax code that is simple, honest, and fair, but they did not. They instead did nothing.

After this drubbing, there’s going to be a fight over the soul of the Democrat party. The old guard will argue that the party needs to move hard left and essentially adopt the Big Government socialist platform. That is the wrong path, both politically and for America. Instead, let’s hope that Democrats wake up today and see that the nation is truly ready to address fundamental Social Security and tax code reform, and join the effort to make them a reality.

Finally, President Bush also showed he learned a key lesson— by risking and spending political capital, he’s actually gained more political capital. Clearly, Bush is stronger today than at any time in his presidency. Now, Bush needs to stay on offense, leading on real reform of the tax code, Social Security, energy policy, and the legal system. Today, the pieces look like they’re falling in place to move America forward, and CSE is ready– let’s get to work!