Decision ‘08

Barone: Change May Be Incremental, But It’s Real

The always-interesting Michael Barone takes a look at the Republican legislative agenda and concludes it is moving forward, fitfully but surely. The whole thing is worth a read, but here’s the money quote:

Many conservatives have expressed dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and the Republican legislative record on the grounds that it hasn’t produced the kind of massive changes that Bush has promised. Many liberals in the media and otherwise have made similar characterizations. There is some truth to these charges. But what Bush and the Republicans have been doing - you can see it most clearly on tax cuts, where they have rolled out one incremental change after another - is less to reduce government than to change it, step by step, so that it provides individuals with more choice and accountability.

In football terms it is a ground game, not a passing game. Sometimes it fails: You may be at fourth down and three to go and not get the yardage. But on CAFTA, the administration and the Republican leadership once again put points on the scoreboard.

Music to this man’s ears…