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Bush Ibn Reagan?
By Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Ph.D.
Minaret of Freedom Institute
08/04/2001
George W. Bush may be the son of former President George Bush, genetically, but many seem to think that both ideologically and stylistically he bears a closer relationship to
Bush Sr.'s predecessor, Ronald Reagan. The term "Reaganesque" has been floating around him since the campaign, and now the
New York Times has quoted the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, Edwin J. Feulner, as saying that the new administration is "more Reaganite than the Reagan administration" (Toner 2001). I have been asked for my comments on this question, so here they are.
There can be no dispute over the fact that George W. Bush has an enormous ability to charm people in the fashion of a pleasant fellow citizen that one would like to spend an evening with ("over a beer" the press likes to say, but as this is a Muslim column, let's substitute "over a cup of coffee"). He also has the ability for disarming self-denigration that is reminiscent of Reagan. I do not think he has Reagan's mastery over this, however. Reagan's self-effacement evoked a sense of combining humility with self-confidence. Who can forget his famous remark that he would not exploit the "age issue" against his opponent's youth and inexperience. Bush's eagerness to deliberately mispronounce words on Saturday Night Live special on the election seemed crude in comparison. Nor has Bush managed to acquire the "Teflon" coating that protected Reagan from a hostile press.
More significant is the question as to whether Bush shares Reagan's ideological conservatism. Here it does appear that he has outdone Reagan both in the extremes to which he is willing to pursue conservative policies and in the close company he keeps with conservative policy wonks.
I am innocent of understanding as to why commentators find Bush's conservatism so remarkable. Wasn't he always considered a conservative? The mere fact that education is a prime issue for him doesn't in itself make him a liberal. His proposals for dealing with the education problem pass muster with most conservatives.
Perhaps the pundits presumed that he would change after leaving the governorship of a conservative southern state for the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of the White House. After all, Reagan himself proved to be mostly talk, abandoning his campaign-bred determination to abolish the Departments of Energy and Education once in office.
I don't think Bush is any more extreme in his conservatism than Reagan. Reagan abandoned his campaign promises simply because he was unable to fulfill them. If Bush seems more determined to move ahead, there may be many other reasons for this. For one thing, his promises are a tad less ambitious than those of Reagan. For another, the country is in a more conservative mood now than then. (Reagan won more on style than substance, while Bush has little style to speak of.). Perhaps most importantly, Bush, Jr. may have learned an important lesson from his father's experience about the price to pay for breaking promises to your core constituency. You might say he's read the voters' lips.
The real difference between Bush and Reagan is the close relationship Bush maintains with the conservative strategists and think tanks. This closeness is summarized by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, whose weekly strategy meetings are always attended by at least one representative of the Administration, in this way: "There isn't an us and them with this administration. They is us. We is them" (Toner 2000).
This gung-ho conservatism may be a mixed blessing for Muslims. While we may benefit from some economic benefits from tax cuts and deregulation, Bush's intimacy with the Christian Zionists, with people at best insensitive to racial and ethnic issues, and the new Attorney General's seeming indifference to civil liberties are a problem. For example, the end of secret evidence anticipated by the Muslim supporters of candidate Bush has yet to come to pass. Rather than work to repeal this travesty of justice the Ashcroft Dept. of Justice proceeds apace in the appeal of the Anwar Haddam case, struggling to put the Algerian parliamentarian-in-exile back in jail after his recent release after four years of imprisonment without charge.
While the Reagan legacy is hotly debated, one thing is certain. Mr. Reagan was no friend of Muslims. If this is what is meant by a "Reaganesque" Bush, Muslims had better batten down the hatches. We're in for a rough ride.
References
Toner, Robin, 2001, "Conservatives Savor Their Role as Insiders in the White House,"
New York Times, 3/19/2001.
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