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James Joyner | Monday, September 8, 2003 |
Reading various commentaries on President Bush, there seem to be two mutually exclusive opinions floating around:
Which is it? It can’t be both, can it?
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Or, it's (a) for domestic policy and (b) for foreign policy. Of course, nothing drives away moderates and energizes opposition like the appear of failure and/or actual failure.
He's in danger of losing his base because he does not fight hard enough for conservative principles and is willing to compromise on damned near anything.
He's energizing his opponents and driving away moderates in droves because he is a right wing ideologue who refuses to make even the slightest concession to achieve consensus.
Itâs certainly possible that he could end up with the worst of both worlds, seen by his base as overly compromising but at the same time seen by moderates and opponents as too inflexible. Perception is everything, and itâs plausible that the same actions would be seen in an entirely different way by these factions. For a simple example, look at the situation the Palestinian P.M. finds himself in, where heâs unable to satisfy either the hardliners on his own side or the Israelis.
Welcome to the squeeze.
does the name jimmy carter ring a bell when it comes to this conundrum?
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