Bush and Clinton: Sharing Fundraising and Triangulation Tips

Bush Takes a Page From Clinton's Book...

But rather than fight them on all things, Clinton ?- prodded by Dick Morris ?- seemed to move to the right on several key issues, especially cultural ones. He signed a bill to "end welfare as we know it." He pushed a plan to put more cops on the street. He made some minimally approving noises about voucher programs and testing of public school teachers. In other words, he took the edge off the GOP's strongest line of attack among its own supporters, which was that the Clinton crowd was antagonistic to the Main Street cultural mainstream.

MIRROR IMAGE
Bush and Rove are attempting to do the same thing, in mirror image. The president has tried to snatch the HIV/AIDS issue from the Democrats, pushing ?- successfully ?- his own proposal to spend $15 billion on fighting the disease in Africa. The Bush Administration, eager to win a greater share of minority votes, has just promulgated a plan to end racial profiling as a tool of law enforcement ?- with the important exception of terrorism cases.
The granddaddy of triangulation moves is coming up: a deal with the Democrats to create a prescription drug benefit in Medicare. Conservatives are complaining that it would be the biggest, and potentially the most expensive, expansion of government in decades. They are probably right. Does Bush care? Probably about as much as Clinton did when liberals ?- remember them? ?- complained that if he did a welfare deal with the GOP he would wreck the lives of the poor. He did the deal and won re-election. Bush hopes to do the same.
-----------