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February 10, 2012
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
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Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
June 30, 2005
/ 23 Sivan, 5765
Wake up, Mr. President: Every day is Election Day
By
Dick Morris
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
One of the fortunate ways in which this Bush is better than his father is his commitment to winning the presidency and then to getting reelected. While the father seemed to regard politics as an unpleasant duty and saw campaigning as something one had to do every four years, like it or not, the son appeared to revel in meeting the voters and making his case to the people.
His determination in holding fast to his policies while aggressively persuading the nation that they were the right ones was a welcome surprise after his father's ambivalence about taking to the stump.
But now that he his reelected, he seems to have abandoned politics and retreated into government. Where is he? Where is the vaunted machine he assembled that humbled the best the Democrats had to offer? Where is Rove? Where is Hughes? Where are yesterday's gods?
The latest Zogby poll highlights the disrepair into which the Bush image has fallen. With his job approval down to 44 percent (and in the 40s in all other polls) and his ratings on Iraq, Social Security, the economy et al. down as well, Bush is in big trouble.
It would be OK if he had just failed to make his case, but one senses that he isn't really trying. After two months of vigorous stumping to sell his Social Security ideas, which proved to be a nonstarter, he looks as though he has withdrawn into the comfortable quarters of the Oval Office to man his desk rather than win the public.
In modern American democracy, every day is Election Day. Every week, every day, a new poll comes out judging the president's performance and popularity. Our polling obsession makes our presidential system much more akin to a parliamentary one. When an incumbent president's job-approval ratings sink below 50 percent, he becomes like a British prime minister who has just lost a vote of confidence in parliament. Unlike his Anglo equivalent, he needn't resign, but if his ratings don't improve he might as well leave for all the good he can do.
An incumbent who is bleeding with ratings under 50 attracts the sharks, who impose their own agenda on his administration, and invites defections from his own party, compromising even his control of Congress. As his low ratings breed even lower ones, he comes to embody two metaphors that come from the Nixon administration: He twists slowly in the wind a helpless, pitiful giant.
It was thus with Bill Clinton in the aftermath of his 1994 defeat, when he had to tell the media that he was still relevant, so obvious was his powerlessness. And it threatens to become this way with George Bush unless the president wakes up and realizes that the American presidency is a job you have to win each and every day to govern with power.
Now, with Rehnquist's health at such risk, Bush may have to make a Supreme Court appointment when he does not have the political clout to make it stick. He can't get his Social Security program unstuck except by surrendering the initiative to Republicans bent on compromise and Democrats scenting vulnerability.
He still has a rubber-stamp majority in the House, but for how long? And in the Senate, the McCain-Snowe-Collins-Chafee axis, occasionally joined by GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S,C.), George Voinovich (Ohio), Arlen Specter (Pa.), John Warner (Va.) or Mike DeWine (Ohio), may make Bush's hold on that body precarious at best.
All this harm and hurt could be avoided if Bush began to show up for work again. He needs to resume his one-a-day policy announcements he used in the spring of 2004 to bolster his ratings as Iraq burned. He has to take strong public positions and use them to make his ratings rise again.
Bush has all the tools of incumbency, control of Congress and an excellent staff well versed in such things. What seems to be lacking is a sense that he still holds elective, not appointive, office and that he will lose power, although keep the position, if he doesn't pay more attention to polls and popularity.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Dick Morris is author, most recently, of "Because He Could". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, Dick Morris
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