This morning’s Washington Post carries an important story that the White House cannot ignore: “Bush, GOP Congress Losing Core Supporters.” It’s a story that the Post could have written a year ago when Bush fumbled on his major policy goal, Social Security, leaving conservatives bewildered and the White House will no game plan.
Since Bush’s re-election in 2004, the White House has failed miserably to appeal to its core supporters. It has offered no conservative ideas and it has flat-out ignored conservatives’ desire to reduce federal spending and take care of the illegal immigration problem with an enforcement-first solution.
As Terry Jeffrey wrote in his column yesterday, Bush can still get his groove back if he takes a few simple steps. Here’s an abridged version of Terry’s column:
- Deploy troops to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Offer “supplemental spending cuts” and enforce them with a veto.
- Lift the moratorium on offshore drilling and enforce it with a veto.
I would add to that making judicial nominees a higher priority. The White House can start by shipping Harriet Miers back to
UPDATE - 10:47 p.m.: I’d be remiss not to offer a link to Peggy Noonan’s column on Opinion Journal about the state of the GOP. Enjoy!
