Word: bushing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Bush can be defensive about admitting political considerations, as in his June decision -- largely unassisted by aides -- to propose a constitutional amendment against flag burning. "I've been accused of draping myself in the flag for a political reason," he told TIME in an unprompted aside. "That's not why I proposed a constitutional amendment. And now I'm reading that people aren't interested in that ((issue)) anymore. Well, my ((internal)) clock tells me that's wrong, and I don't need ((Republican pollster)) Bob Teeter to show me a poll to make me convinced it's wrong." Although...
...Bush may have less to fear from critics than from his sly habit of promising big things but providing few dollars for the tasks. He has called himself "the education President" but budgeted little more for schools than did Reagan. His proposals to cut violent crime by doubling federal prison cells sounded commendable, but even top aides acknowledge that the construction program will have almost no effect on the problem. This bait-and-switch game is considered clever in Washington but not in many other places. Democrats are sure to seize on the rhetoric-reality gap in next year...
That sounds like a nascent -- and ironic -- re-election slogan. Last year Dukakis declared that the contest for the White House was about "competence, not ideology." Bush won the election by campaigning on "values." After seven months as President, however, Bush seems to be betting that what he accomplishes will matter more than who he is or what he stands for. As Reagan fades from the public's mind, a clearer portrait of Bush is emerging, and his problem-solving style and relentlessly cautious decision making suggest that he is already positioning himself to run on the Dukakis slogan...
...Clancy, the beckoning horizon has long been Government service. He is still enough of an earnest outsider to recall each of his seven visits to the White House (the most recent: in March, to watch a screening of New York Stories with George Bush). But ever since Ronald Reagan stepped forward as Clancy's First Reader, the author has had more reason than most to muse about the what-ifs of being officially on the inside...
...useful," he says, the hope almost audible in his voice. But the novelist can also sound like Ryan when he declares, "Somebody in my position has the unique ability to look an official in the eye and say, 'What you just said is garbage.' " But the Bush team has other ideas. "What we had in mind," says an Administration insider, "is tapping his expertise in creating public enthusiasm for the space program...