Archive [March 2000]

I spoke with Governor Bush at a critical juncture in his campaign: just after he lost the New Hampshire primary — and just before he won the South Carolina primary.

Rush: Governor. How are you doing?

Bush: Hey, Rush! I’m doing great.

Rush: Well, good. Thanks for carving some time here. I know you’re probably swamped, so we’ll take as little time as necessary to get this done.

Bush: Whatever it takes. I appreciate you, buddy.

Rush: What has surprised you most of all up to this point, about your whole quest to be President?

Bush: That somehow I’m defined as the insider, and Senator McCain is the outsider. But that’s going to change.

Rush: What are you going to do?

Bush: I’m going to remind people who’s been there long enough to be the head of a committee, and who’s using his position as the head of the committee to further his chances to become the nominee. I am going to remind people that I’ve been a reformer who’s gotten results. I need to do a better job of making sure that my opponent and some in the press corps don’t define me for who I’m not. I’m going to battle it, is what I’m going to do.

Rush: This “reform” business has always puzzled me. If you look at the American people’s presidential votes in the last two elections, you would have to assume the American people want bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation, more and larger bureaucracy. So it seems to me that the reform position is actually conservatism.

Bush: I agree with that completely. But that’s the debate in our primary, and the conservative candidate — me — needs to do a better job of getting the message out, and I’m going to. I’m going to remind people that our conservative philosophy is the compassionate philosophy, and the reform philosophy. And I’m going to remind people, Rush, that if we’re interested in budgetary control, one way to control the budget is to give people their own money back in the form of a tax cut; cutting the marginal rates.

Rush: So you are not believing the media’s post-New Hampshire exit poll analysis that people in America don’t care about tax cuts today.

Bush: No. I don’t buy that. They’re using the exit polls in one state to try to turn me off tax cuts. I’m going to campaign for tax cuts the entire way through. That’s how you get something passed in Washington; you have a consistent message, you earn the will of the people, and stand up in front of the Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, and say “I’m speaking on behalf of the people.”

As a matter of fact, I think when properly explained — that we have enough money to meet basic needs, and that there’s still a surplus — the American people will want some of their money back. Particularly since taxes are the highest they have been since World War II.

Rush: Yes, I saw Mrs. Clinton say that, even though she knows New York like the back of her hand and can name the state flower, she was stunned to see how high taxes in New York are.

Bush: Welcome to the world, Mrs. Clinton. A good place to start would be to lobby your husband to get a real tax cut. The kind of tax cut I’m talking about, Rush, is one that simplifies the code, but it’s also one that reduces the rates on everybody who pays taxes.

Rush: So how do you deal with the accusation that your plan benefits the rich? Even McCain himself. One of the things that’s got a lot of people upset, Governor, is that McCain sounds like a liberal when he criticizes your tax plan. He says your tax plan is for the wealthiest Americans. It’s right out of the Democratic party’s playbook. How do you counter that?

Bush: By reminding him that his verbiage is right out of the Democrat playbook, and that we’re in a Republican primary. John has done a good job of attracting independents who like that kind of rhetoric. But the Republican party is going to realize that kind of rhetoric will not lead us to victory in November.

Rush: When you’ve got Democrats who can register and vote Republican, independents who can register and vote Republican, it’s not a Republican primary.

Bush: If I can make it a Republican primary, I’m in good shape. And I’m just going to remind our Republicans that we need a standard-bearer who does not sound like Al Gore on the tax cut issue — and on the campaign funding issue, by the way.

Rush: How do you think McCain has successfully attached himself to this reform label, and has somehow been able to escape the notion that he is part of the establishment?

Bush: That’s going to change. I just came from a press conference, and I reminded people of the old Washington tradition of saying one thing and doing another. The senator has made lobbyists and special interests a key target of his, and yet has received a higher percentage of money from special interests and lobbyists than any candidate in the race — more so than Al Gore, for that matter. It is important to remind people that the old Washington shuffle of saying one thing and doing another is something the Republican party needs to be careful of.

Rush: He says that these people contributing to him know that they are part of the problem, and that they’re contributing to him so that he will end the problem.

Bush: Well, that’s a good justification. And I say, it’s important to not only talk the talk, but to walk the walk. If you’re going to make this the cornerstone of a campaign, and if you’re willing to cast aspersions, if you’re willing to say, like he said about me, that I won’t be able to stand on the stage with Al Gore when it comes to campaign funding reform, my only answer is, “Well, sir, you need to look in the mirror.” He’s raising a lot of money from special interests. That’s his choice to do so. But he’s also made campaign funding reform the cornerstone of his campaign. I believe in campaign funding reform, but I’m not going to allow a unilateral disarmament for the Republicans and the conservative cause — by not having the labor unions under the same strict standards through a paycheck protection that corporate America would be under.

Rush: I remember when we talked to each other in August, and I told you that deep within the Republican ranks there was a lot of unrest, and upset at the establishment, just anti- anything to do with Washington. And I sense a similarity in McCain’s appeal to that of Perot.

Bush: Yes.

Rush: Because if you look at the exit poll data in New Hampshire, most of the McCain voters didn’t care where he was on the issues. It was the fact that he was a different character than Clinton. Now, all of a sudden, character matters, when it didn’t for two previous elections. How do you keep track of all this and stay on your message at the same time?

Bush: By reminding people that if they’re interested in someone cleaning up Washington, someone to bring a new, fresh look to Washington, a reformer’s approach with a clear philosophical base, they need to pick somebody whose zip code is not Washington DC, but in my case, Austin, Texas. My strength is the fact that I’ve done in office what I said I would do. I have been a reformer governor, and I come from outside Washington. I just need to do a better job of reminding people of that. And I’m going to.

Rush: The press is eternally trying to link you to your father, as a way of asking, “How can you be an outsider when your last name is Bush and your first name is George?”

Bush: I understand that. They are trying to get me to maybe separate from my father, which I refuse to do. Much of who I am results from the fact that I was raised by two parents who gave me the greatest gift of all, Rush, which is unconditional love. And so I’m not the kind of person to separate from them, of course. But I am a person who has established my own record, and I am going to remind folks what my record is. You’re talking to a guy who is ready to go to battle. I look forward to it.

Rush: You’ve sounded a theme here of conservatism, conservatism, conservatism. I had a guy call me the other day, who said, “Rush, you’re missing it. It’s not Republican and Democrat anymore. It’s not conservative and liberal anymore. Those lines are gone, or at least they’re blurred,” he said, and that’s why all these people are registering independent. A strict adherence to an ideology, or to a party line, is instant death.

Bush: I guess I’m going to have to go down, then, because I don’t believe you can govern efficiently without a core philosophy. And my core philosophy is that of conservatism. I won’t abandon my philosophy in order to get elected. That’s precisely what I think America is sick of— politics by polls, politics by focus groups. I disagree with the man if he’s suggesting the blurring of ideological lines is healthy for the country. I think it’s not.

Rush: Was there a tendency on your part, with the tremendous fundraising advantage you had, and the organizational advantage you had, to sit on the lead, rather than continue to fight as though you needed to?

Bush: In New Hampshire, I thought I was going to win. I thought I was going to win up until the day of the election, until I got the first indication of what the exit polls were. And the reason why, is it looked as if we had energized the Republican base. I got a very healthy vote — something like seventy-two thousand Republican votes, which is a lot, Rush. Now I am going to battle to make sure that people understand who is the insider, and who is the outsider. And I’m going to battle to make sure my record as a reformer with good results is etched in people’s minds. I am not going to passively sit back and let Senator McCain define me anymore.

Rush: The media has been saying for quite a while that the American voter is simply tired of confrontation and bickering, and they wish the candidates would just get along and stop fighting. I’ve always thought that was bunk. I’ve always thought that this is a very competitive, entrepreneurial society, which likes combat and likes victors.

Bush: I had a handshake with Senator McCain about running a campaign. And then he mischaracterized my tax reform plan, and my tax cut plan, and now I’m going to defend myself.

Rush: What was the handshake?

Bush: I said I won’t run a negative campaign. But I don’t think defending myself in a vigorous fashion is going to be viewed as negative campaigning. I will treat him with respect as a person. But we have big disagreements, on tax cuts and campaign funding law. I have a disagreement with him, on the one hand saving that he is going after lobbyists, and on the other hand saying, “Pass the plate.” So I’m going to make that an issue. It’s going to be a spirited contest. I think it will be good for the Republican party.

Rush: Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not criticize another Republican,” is kind of hard to follow in a primary situation. How do you draw that line, “McCain is an honorable man, with wrong ideas”?

Bush: You just say it that way. You say, John McCain is a good person. But I just disagree with his tax cut plan, and I certainly disagree with his characterization of mine. And I disagree with the idea that he’s the only person who can get up on the stage and debate Al Gore over campaign funding reform. As a matter of fact, his campaign funding reform and Al Gore’s plan are exactly the same.

Rush: So this campaign fight prepares you for Gore or Bradley later on.

Bush: I think so, Rush. I think competition is good. I like the competition. I’m kind of a feisty fellow, as you know. I stand on what I believe, and I’m going to work hard for the vote. It’s going to be an interesting contest.

Rush: When people tell me, “I watched Bush in the debates, and he seems a little constrained,” I say, “Look, I’ve been with this guy four or five times, he’s one of the most confident and energetic people I know. You just wait until that side of him shows up.” Sounds like you’re here.

Bush: I’m ready to go. And I’m looking forward to the contest.

Rush: Are you prepared? Do you think you’ve seen the worst? One of the advantages for you over McCain is that you’ve been vetted. The cocaine stuff, all the negative stuff they tried to attach to you. The low grades, the low intellect, you’ve weathered all that. So that when the general election comes, after you’ve prevailed in the primaries, there’s not much more that can be said negatively of you, and you will have survived it. Yet McCain hasn’t had that yet. The media’s done nothing but fawn over him. Is that an advantage for you?

Bush: I think it is. I believe I’m going to be the nominee, and we’re going to work hard to make sure I am. Therefore a good fight, getting knocked down in the snows of New Hampshire, dusting myself off and getting up and battling, showing people I’ve got the will to win, is going to be positive in the long run. And in terms of the press, all the rumors and gossip and dirt that gets floated out in the political process — yes, I’m sure people will try to do that again. But there’s no “there” there, and I’m not going to participate in their game.

Rush: But they’re totally predictable, governor. They’re going to attempt to destroy you and your campaign any way they can. They’ll accuse you of wanting to starve children with school lunch cuts. Or, your Medicare or Social Security plan will George W. Bush result in no medicine for senior citizens. How do you deal with that? The Republican voters today are still waiting for somebody to respond to that never-ending line of attack that started in 1995, with the budget battle.

Bush: Yes. I’ll be ready for it. People asked, “Are you tough enough to take it on in the general? I said, “Remember who I beat in 1994.” I had a heck of a race in 94. I withstood all that business: “He doesn’t know anything; he’s his daddy’s boy.” I’m now the governor of Texas. I’ve also done in office what I said I would do. So I look forward to it. And I’ll be ready when the time comes, I promise you. I relish the contest.

Rush: You’ve got McCain and Gore and Bradley, who pretty much agree on a lot of issues — like campaign finance reform, tobacco, tax cuts and all that. Are you going to have a different campaign strategy for McCain on these issues than for the Democrats in the general, should you get there?

Bush: Oh, yes. I think that the difference with John is to remind the people that I’m the person who can lead our party to victory, because I’ve had a record from outside Washington DC. I’ve got a record that people in the Republican primary can see. I appreciate his leadership. I appreciate what he’s done. The race in the general election will clearly be a race of trusting people versus trusting government. That’s where I think Vice President Gore is going to be very vulnerable. He believes that the government can solve everybody’s problems. What we believe is unleashing people, and giving them the capacity to solve their own problems, and help them if we need to, to make those decisions.

Rush: Suppose after eight years of Clinton that a majority of voting Americans say, “We kind of like government making sure of our retirement. We kind of like government making sure we have health care. We kind of like government making sure our prescriptions are paid for.” You come along and say, “There’s a thing called self-reliance in this country. You’re going to be far better off if you provide that for yourself.” That’s a tough sell, since these guys have done a good job of creating dependence among the American people. You’re not only going to have to explain yourself, you’re going to have to lead people on to a path that they’re not accustomed to walking, after eight years of Clinton-Gore.

Bush: I agree with that — but you know something, Rush? There are just some principles you have to fight for in life. And I think the American people are going to be looking for more than government programs. First of all, they’re not going to believe, after I get through, that we’re going to throw people out in the streets and have them starving. What the American people are looking for is somebody who can elevate the spirit of America, and lead us forward into the 21st century. Somebody who can rally the armies of compassion. Somebody who will usher in the responsibility era. There’s a starving tor leadership above and beyond politics as usual.

Rush: Are you going to stick with “compassionate conservatism” as a motto?

Bush: I am. We need to make sure, Rush, that the people understand that our conservative philosophy leads to compassionate results. Otherwise we’ll be tagged for what we have always been tagged as — mean-spirited people.

Rush: What is the most arduous aspect or the toughest thing about campaigning?

Bush: First of all, I’m one of these people who likes people, and I really enjoy people. But I think the toughest thing about campaigning is just the long grind on the road.

Rush: I read that you carry your pillow with you from home, just so you have some reminder of home. You like to be home.

Bush: That’s true. I love my home. I went home this weekend. Evidently I was belittled by some of the press for actually wanting to be with my family, and to go to my own church. Well, that’s just too bad. That’s the way I am.

Rush: They thought you were down there strategizing with people, trying to figure out how to come out of the situation you’re in. Were you in big meetings, pow-wows, to try to figure out what had gone wrong?

Bush: No. I wasn’t. I can figure out what went wrong. I got defined: I was Mr. Inside, and my opponent was Mr. Outside. That’s going to change. Everybody’s going to understand who’s the chairman and who’s the governor.

Rush: What’s the best part of campaigning?

Bush: I think the people. I really love our country. I love to see the great strength of America. That is, the hearts and souls of our citizens. I’ve seen some fantastic things. I went to Colfax, Iowa, where I saw a faith-based drug program that was just so full of love and compassion — and good results. It overwhelmed the entire crowd I was with — even the press corps. It was a powerful message. This program exists just because of love. Government can’t create that.

Rush: Let me switch gears real quickly. There are people in the military, it’s said, who are on food stamps. Enlistment is down — I think you and I both would attribute this to the current administration. So you’ve got a big task. You’ve got this supposed surplus, with public pressure to pay down the debt and save Social Security. But, you’re almost going to confront a Jimmy Carter-like military situation, with a Ronald Reagan-like need to rebuild it. And our foreign policy looks like a social meals-on-wheels program now. What are your plans for the military, and establishing a U.S. foreign policy?

Bush: Two things. On the military, an immediate billion-dollar pay raise on top of the pay raise they just passed. And within that billion dollars, to not only pay for enlistment people, but bonuses to retain the highly-skilled, where the military’s atrophying, where we’re losing troops. In the long run, Rush, to ask for a top-down review from the new Secretary of Defense, so as to better spend our research and development money to reconfigure our military. There is no need for us to be a heavy, hard-to-move military in the future. We need to be more stealthy, more agile, more light. Short run is to boost the morale — with pay and better housing. Long run is to reconfigure what the military looks like. That has to happen, in order for there to be reasonable budgetary spending. The military budgets need to reflect a strategic plan, which we do not have.

Second is to tell our allies, “You get to be the peacekeepers; we’ll be the peacemakers.” We need to be very selective, if and when we put troops on the ground to keep warring parties apart. It means that the president has to define national strategic interests.

There are four areas in our national strategic interests: the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, and our own neighborhood. Those are places where, if need be, we’ll commit troops — if the mission is clear, and the exit strategy is obvious — in order to maintain our national strategic interests.

Finally, in terms of keeping the peace in the world, it is important to develop and deploy anti-ballistic missiles, theater-based anti-ballistic missile systems, and national-based anti-ballistic missile systems. You understand the diplomacy that’s going to have to take place, trying to convince the Russians to agree — and if not, in short order, withdraw from the treaty, so we can use our brainpower.

Rush: You’d do that. You would withdraw from the treaty in order to build the system.

Bush: Yes, I would.

Rush: Oh, good.

Bush: I think we need to do that. I’d give the Russians ample notice, and I’d give them a reasonable period of time — I’m talking months, not years — to understand why, in a post-cold-war era, an anti-ballistic missile system is in our interest and theirs.

Rush: Would you share it with them, if we perfected it?

Bush: Maybe. I know that was the Reagan vision. I would be a little more hesitant to do so until I was assured of the type of government that we’d be dealing with. Russia is obviously in a transition period. They’ve got a temporary president, Putin, and we’ll see what kind of president he is going to be. If he works to usher in the rule of law and the marketplace, and gets rid of the corrupt elites who are siphoning off our money, then perhaps it makes sense to share. But in the meantime, we need to convince them that it’s in their interest as well as ours to at least develop the capacity to say to rogue leaders, “You’re not going to blackmail us.” Or to prevent an accidental launch.

Rush: The Supreme Court: There are probably going to be at least three Supreme Court judges appointed by the next President. It’s a big, big factor in who wins this election.

Bush: Absolutely.

Rush: You’ve gotten heat because some are demanding that you have a litmus test for justices. Now I understand your answer to that is that, once you ask somebody how they’re going to decide on a case, that they must then recuse themselves if such a case comes before them?

Bush: That’s right.

Rush: So what criteria will you use to find somebody — without asking them those questions — who you feel confident would be a good Bush appointee?

Bush: Somebody who will strictly interpret the Constitution. I think that’s easy to glean from their findings. Sometimes it’s hard to predict whether or not they’ll be consistent once they reach the higher bench — whether or not their appellate rulings district bench rulings become the norm for them when they get on the higher bench. I recognize that. But the question that needs to be asked is the very same question that candidate Ronald Reagan, then Governor Ronald Reagan, answered on a debate in 1980. He talked about judicial temperament, a political philosophy gleaned from finding. But the most important test, and this is what I agree with him on, is whether or not they strictly interpret the Constitution. I am not a lawyer, you’ll be happy to hear. But I am wise enough to know the difference between someone who reads the Constitution for what it is, and someone who will be willing to use the Constitution as a fake justification for writing law from the bench.

Rush: Have you given any thought to the difference of approach that will be required if you win the White House and the Republicans hold the House and the Senate, versus you win and the Democrats take back the House? Are you thinking that far ahead?

Bush: Not yet, Rush. But I do know one thing — and this is very important, regardless of the makeup of the House: First and foremost, my job is to earn enough political capital, through a campaign that is focused, that does not have a cluttered agenda, where I can earn the will of the people. That will give me the capital necessary to say, “This is what the American people want.”

Rush: So you’re going to have a specific agenda that gives you a mandate, that will tell the Congress, even if it’s Democrat: “Look, this is what the people voted for.”

Bush: Absolutely. The problem with our current President is he tries to be all things to all people. He’s got so many agenda items, there’s almost no agenda. I’ve learned that it’s important to set a specific agenda, make it real easy for people to understand, and say, “Give me a chance to get this done.”

I will tell you what mine is going to be. One, rebuilding the military to keep the peace. Two, the tax cut plan that I laid out this fall, that I’m campaigning on today, and will campaign on tomorrow — a realistic plan that will achieve a couple of objectives. It’ll make the code more fair, and will encourage economic growth. The other two major objectives are going to be entitlement reform — Medicare and Social Security reform — and passing power back from Washington D.C. to the states.

Rush: When these people say your tax cut is going to benefit only the wealthy, what are you going to say? Because it doesn’t. It benefits everybody.

Bush: I’m going to say that’s old-time language. That’s the old-time scare tactic politics that has not served our country well at all. I’m going to explain the facts, that by far the vast percentage of the money goes at the bottom of the economic ladder. I’m just going to have to make the case.

The other interesting thing is that we’d reduce the top rate from 39.6 to 33 percent. That’s higher than what Senator Bradley or Senator Gore voted for in the ‘86 tax cut.

Rush: Exactly. Now this is hypothetical — I’m not encouraging it, I’m just asking. Would it be easier for you politically to leave the 39.6 bracket alone, and cut everything else, thus eliminating any charge that your tax cut is benefitting the wealthy? Is there a temptation to do that?

Bush: But that doesn’t help fulfill the total objective, which is to encourage entrepreneurial growth.

Rush: Good.

Bush: I don’t put a tax cut plan out there based upon a series of polls. I put it out there because I thought it was right, and fair.

Rush: Let’s say you’re elected, and three days later you send this tax plan to the Congress. Bill Clinton is going to call a press conference, and the media’s going to show up, and he’s going to say, “After my eight years of hard work to straighten out this country, my policy is being tampered with.” In other words, he’s going to violate the unwritten agreement that presidents do not comment on their successors. He can’t let the spotlight go. This is something I think is going to happen, and I don’t care who the next President is. What would your reaction be if Clinton refuses to shut up about your governance?

Bush: Obviously, I’d be very disappointed. There is a tradition of former presidents allowing their successors to exercise their prerogative, and exercise the will of the people. I would be disappointed if President Clinton — or anybody else, for that matter — was holding press conferences publicly denouncing a plan that I had just campaigned on. So would the American people.

Rush: We hope.

Bush: They’d be disappointed too.

Rush: Everybody’s watching this. Everybody is really fired up. Do you think that this is a race for independents now?

Bush: Yes, to a certain extent it is. And I think my message for independents will fly well, particularly when they understand what the unvarnished truth is.

Rush: Well, sock it to them.