Bush to Govern on Promise of Unity
Dec. 13 -- George W. Bush, a relative neophyte at the politics game when he was elected governor of Texas five years ago, wooed voters with his folksy, nice guy image, and his promise to unite the nation.
“We need a uniter, not a divider,” Bush was fond of saying during his 15-month presidential campaign.
When it comes to governing in the White House, that might very well become Bush’s mantra, political experts say.
“He will attempt to bring bipartisanship and comity to Washington,” said James Thurber, a presidential scholar at American University in Washington.
“But he will find it very difficult with razor thin margins in the House and the Senate and because he has had no clear mandate. No matter what, he’ll inherit gridlock and will continue on major issues talked about in the campaign.”
The trick, experts say, will be for Bush to set the tone from the beginning.
“It strikes me that he is going to want to offer an olive branch and be a unifier,” said Michael Franc, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. “He will want to toss it into the court of Congressional Democrats. They will be looking for signals as to how they should respond.”
Bush Works to Unify
In fact, Bush made unity the theme of his first speech as president-elect Wednesday night.
“I hope the long wait of the last five weeks will heighten adesire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recentpast,” Bush said from the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives.
He was introduced by the highest-ranking Democrat in his state,House Speaker Pete Laney. Bush aides said the introduction, and thesetting, were intended to signal bipartisanship.
“Here, in a place where Democrats have the majority,Republicans and Democrats have worked together to do what is rightwith the people we respect,” Bush said. The chamber was packedwith legislators of both parties, state officials, Bush staffmembers and family.
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