BUSH POLICIES AS MUCH FOR FUTURE REPUB POLITICAL ADVANTAGE THAN CORE BELIEFS

Thanks to Mustang Bobby of the Miami-based blog Bark Bark Woof Woof for turning me on to this well writen piece from today's Washington Post (registration required). I am including some of the text here FYI:

When President Bush stands before Congress on Wednesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, it is a safe bet that he will not announce that one of his goals is the long-term enfeeblement of the Democratic Party.

But a recurring theme of many items on Bush's second-term domestic agenda is that if enacted, they would weaken political and financial pillars that have propped up Democrats for years, political strategists from both parties say.

Legislation putting caps on civil damage awards, for instance, would choke income to trial lawyers, among the most generous contributors to the Democratic Party.

GOP strategists, likewise, hope that the proposed changes to Social Security can transform a program that has long been identified with the Democrats, creating a generation of new investors who see their interests allied with the Republicans.

Less visible policies also have sharp political overtones. The administration's transformation of civil service rules at federal agencies, for instance, would limit the power and membership of public employee unions -- an important Democratic financial artery.

If the Bush agenda is enacted, "there will be a continued growth in the percentage of Americans who consider themselves Republican, both in terms of self-identified party ID and in terms of their [economic] interests," said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and an operative who speaks regularly with White House senior adviser Karl Rove.

Many Democrats and independent analysts see a methodical strategy at work. They believe the White House has expressly tailored its domestic agenda to maximize hazards for Democrats and tilt the political playing field in the GOP's favor long after this president is out of the White House.
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What is notable about the Bush White House, some analysts believe, is the extent to which its agenda is crafted with an eye toward the long-term partisan implications.

"I've been assuming all along that creating the basis for a durable Republican majority was one of the major purposes of the administration's policy agenda," said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California at San Diego. "Indeed, I don't think these guys do anything without weighing the potential partisan consequences and are particularly attracted to policies that might increase the Republican coalition."

John D. Podesta, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and now head of the liberal Center for American Progress, said, "I think that most of their domestic agenda is driven and run by a political strategy as much as core fundamentals and belief."

His top example is the curbs on lawsuits. "Why would you make this the cause célèbre?" he asked. "The notion that this is a key element of their economic program is laughable. It's important to them in both directions both in organizing core elements of their business and doctor communities, and at least undermining a financial base of the Democratic Party."

Republicans note that limiting the growth of lawsuits and damage awards, as well as proposed investment accounts in Social Security, are ideas Bush and other conservatives have championed for years. The Bush agenda lies "at the wonderful intersection where good policy is good politics for Republicans and conservatives," said Stephen Moore, president of the Free Enterprise Fund, which is lobbying for the Social Security changes.

But, one rung away from the White House, many Bush allies make no effort to disguise their glee at the payoffs these ideas could bring to interest groups allied with the GOP, and the heartburn they would cause interest groups allied with the Democrats.

In an interview last week, for instance, Norquist unabashedly dissected the political overtones of legislation to limit lawsuits.

"This will defund significantly some of the trial lawyer community, and it rewards the business community, the Fortune 500 guys who have been increasingly supportive of the broad center-right coalition," he said.

Of specific provisions protecting gun manufacturers from class-action lawsuits, Norquist added, "This will strengthen the Second Amendment community, especially the NRA." He was referring to the National Rifle Association, a core GOP constituency.

The Bush administration has also challenged predominantly Democratic organized labor, especially public employee unions, on a host of fronts. The most recent was a major revision of civil service rules at the Department of Homeland Security that the administration would like to expand to the entire government over the next few years. The National Labor Relations Board has helped make it harder for unions to represent temporary workers, among several rule changes pushed by GOP appointees.
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"Most people who are investors tend to vote Republican," said Mehlman, manager of Bush's reelection campaign. "This creates conditions under which voters are more likely to support politicians who are pro-growth, pro-ownership, pro-free market."

The expansive nature of the Bush agenda, said George C. Edwards III, a prominent presidential scholar at Texas A&M University, reflects how "this is a very strategic administration," which tries to use policies to advance its long-term party-building goals. "I think Karl Rove views this as his great legacy."
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The finance and investment banking community, which stands to benefit from the creation of private savings accounts financed through Social Security, provided overwhelming support to the Bush-Cheney campaign. The top 10 employers of Bush donors all are part of this sector, including Morgan Stanley, $604,480; Merrill Lynch, $580,004; and UBS Americas, $459,075.

"The dividend tax cut, expanding IRAs and private Social Security accounts are all examples of President Bush and Karl Rove understanding that the more people we can lure into the 'investor class' with private pools of private capital, the better it is for Republicans and Republican issues," Moore said.