4.28.00
The "Bipartisan" Bush

4.28.00
Elián and the Psychologists

4.26.00
The Politics of Elian

4.24.00
Shootout in Miami?

4.22.00
Waco Redux

4.14.00
Democracy Is In the Streets?

4.07.00
An Elegant Solution

4.05.00
Sweden with an Attitude

4.04.00
Father's Day

3.30.00
Bush's Opportunity

3.28.00
A Risky Campaign-Finance Scheme

ipartisanship is highly overrated, in fact calls for it represent one of the worst cliches in Washington. Moaning about partisanship usually reflects a deep distaste for politics itself (for a particularly stark and moronic example of this tendency, see Sen. Chuck Hagel's op-ed on Elian today in the New York Times — outraged reactions to it should be directed to Hagel booster and NRO columnist Robert George [click here for e-mail address]). All that said, George W. Bush's speech Wednesday night at a Republican fundraiser bemoaning the poisonous partisanship in Washington was quite shrewd.

It tapped, obviously, into the public's vague dislike of partisanship. But it did not do so merely in a mindless, goo-goo way — there was a political punch to Bush's remarks. Beneath the let’s-all-get-along rhetoric, it was an anti-Clinton speech, as Bush scored the administration for its relentless attack politics. This is an anti-Clinton tack that works, in fact it may be the only politically effective way to talk about the "scandals," i.e. as a form of Washington savagery (recall Clinton's fateful words to Dick Morris that helped launch the country on the year-long impeachment saga: "Well, we just have to win then").

Bush, of course, also had a line criticizing Republicans for their own partisanship. This too was smart, because the public suffers not just from Clinton, but also from congressional fatigue. One of the gross mistakes of the Bush campaign in the primaries is how it allowed him somehow to get identified with the current GOP majority, when all along one of Bush's main appeals was that he represented a "fresh start." Indeed, when Bush talks about bipartisanship, it’s not only rhetoric — he did work closely with Democrats in Texas (traveling with four of them this week was a nice way for Bush to remind people of this).

Of course, none of this means Bush can run a milquetoast campaign, and what Republicans most want from him is assurances that he won't. Hence, one of the biggest applause lines in Bush's speech was his assurance that he will "respond aggressively" to Gore attacks. The themes from Wednesday night will just make it easier to do that when appropriate — all the more reason to sound them.

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