Return of the `The Wimp Factor'

What some called "the wimp factor" and others labelled "the vision thing" is haunting George Bush again. And the GOP platform rhetoric of commitment to "family values" isn't a powerful enough incantation to exorcise it.

Not only is the platform flawed, but Bush himself is unable to demonstrate a firm resolve to uphold the principles his campaign claims to be about. His proposed platform focuses on the wrong issues, ones which are not of central concern to most voters, and expresses positions on these issues that are more extreme than those held by many Americans.

In addition, conservatives are a more diverse group than the GOP imagines. Those who favor libertarian or classical liberal philosophies over Moral Majority ideology will see through the posturing about family values and realize that the Bush-Quayle administration's record is less than ideal on quite a few conservative issues.

To begin with, the main problem on voters' minds right now is the economy. We could care less about how Bush would treat a gay grandchild. If abortion has become a deciding factor for those wavering between voting Democrat or Republican, it is because the Bush administration has mounted a forceful attack on abortion rights. Even many Republican voters see this as a betrayal of principles Bush once held, as well as of the conservative principle of protecting individual rights against government intrusion. The GOP's emphasis on simplistic and harsh answers to questions of sexual values gives the impression that they think the country would be all right in no time if we just tightened our belts and zippered our files.

The hard-line Republican position on these issues betrays that Bush's campaign is based on out-of-touch poses rather than a practical agenda. Leadership of a nation means more than pandering to a small group of extremists, and certainly more than assuming that the people will go anywhere if you lead them assertively enough.

While he's not as bad as the press has painted him in the past, Bush needs to learn that assertiveness isn't enough without follow through, i.e. his actions need to be consistent with his openly stated principles. His behavior in Rio was a rare example of good leadership, unfortunately not given its due by the press.

Though he claims to "know in his heart, like Barry Goldwater," that he's right about government denying women the right to choose, Bush inexplicably also told the press that he would support that right if his own granddaughter had an unwanted pregnancy. Quayle recently responded the same way to press questioning. It's hard to hide the fact that a blatant double standard is operating here, coupled with a hypocrisy that the two politicians are not even smart enough to hide. This is hardly admirable leadership.

As for foreign policy, the Gulf war, Bush's alleged triumph, accomplished far less than was claimed: Saddam's still there and still making us look like fools. And I for one would have respected Bush more if he had admitted that we were in it for our own "selfish" national interests like oil. His pretense that our motives were altruistic has now caused the world to look to us for help in areas like Bosnia and Somalia where we have no strategic interest and cannot afford to be bogged down. The idea that government should function as protector of its own country's interests and not as global crusader is another conservative principle of limited government that (except in Rio) Bush has largely ignored.

There are other reasons why Bush's support among conservatives may not be as strong as he hopes. (And for a campaign that "preaches to the converted" instead of wooing the center, this is a major problem.) On several key issues, Bush has acted like (gasp!) a liberal.

The Republican Party is supposed to be against taxes and big government. Yet in 1990 Bush greatly increased taxes in order to reduce the deficit, a move which not only increased the deficit but was a form of governmental tinkering with the economy usually practiced by what Bush calls "tax-and-spend liberals." Plus it made Mr. Read-my-lips look mighty stupid.

Bush also betrayed the principle of treating people as individuals and not as groups when he consented to the Civil Rights Act. And despite his defense of business against regulations at Rio, he sent an opposite message by passing the Clean Air Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The final absurdity is the GOP platform's endorsement of laws allowing victims of sexual violence to sue pornographers. What's next--a photo of Barbara Bush hugging Andrea Dworkin? Activist government: it's not just for liberals any more.

It's clear that the GOP's platform and candidates are not exactly a recipe for success. If they lose the White House in November, though, it is important to note that America is rejecting not conservatism but an administration that embodies the narrowest of right-wing principles without the vision or courage even to defend those adequately. We've read your lips, George, and it's pretty clear that Ann Richards was right when she said you were born with a silver foot in your mouth.