Word: wonking
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...trial lawyer Bush never took on is Paul Sadler, a soft-spoken litigator from East Texas who is also the lege's leading wonk. As chairman of the house's public-education committee, the Democrat is a longtime player on the issue closest to Bush's heart, education reform, which had been under way in Texas for a decade by the time Bush ran. In 1993, Sadler led the fight to scrap the state's education code, and during Bush's first term, Sadler and others were writing the new code. Sadler says Bush jumped into the reform effort immediately...
...Luke P. McLoughlin'00 is not volunteering in Mission Hill or Jamaica Plains. And he is not an Institute of Politics wonk...
...timing is indeed everything came Wednesday for HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo. Normally, the release of a federal report on homelessness merits some polite yawns and space on page 17A. But bring it out amidst a Rudy Giuliani-Hillary Clinton fight on the issue that has everyone interested (even noted wonk Rosie O'Donnell has used her show as an anti-Rudy soapbox) and suddenly we're all very intrigued...
...there is no percentage, as Governor or as President, in trying to master every subject or micromanage every decision. But as Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas in Austin, says, "Bush is trying to turn his weakness into a virtue. He's not a policy wonk, so he has to rely on people who are." And there is a risk to that approach, adds Buchanan, who is an admirer: "Bush's biggest weakness is that he might not be in a position to discern the credibility of the options his advisers...
...Gore talked about ozone depletion, at times pulling out charts like a college professor. His passion seemed pretty real, to me at least. At some point in this campaign, though, he decided not to sound wonky--which is probably a mistake if you are, in fact, a wonk. Instead of posing, Gore might follow Gray Davis. As California's Lieutenant Governor, Davis was in a similar bind--second banana, dull, familiar. Instead of feigning charisma, Davis ran for Governor last year as, well, dull and experienced...