Will Dubya Finally Inter The "New Tone"?

That's what Deborah Orin of the New York Post is hinting:

Until now, Bush hasn't fought back. But maybe that's changing. Tonight he'll hold his first prime-time press conference in more than a year. Bush isn't crazy about them, but he generally does well, as most Americans like him personally.

Republican strategists said it's overdue.

"The Democrats are being totally obstructionist and we're on defense, which puts you in a position of weakness. The administration just isn't engaging with the Democrats or going after them," said a savvy GOP insider.

"I don't think there's an appetite for that right now — but eventually, it becomes a necessity."

Orin speculates that the Bushies haven't gotten into "post-campaign" mode in the sense that the President's re-election campaign, as opposed to the White House itself, was the outfit doing the heavy partisan lifting in last year's re-election campaign. But that really begs the question; this Bush White House has never, ever adopted a "campaign mode" of any kind in the four-plus years it's been there. And that reflects how Bush in particular, and Republicans in general, look at politics: you campaign for two or three months every couple of years, and the rest of the time you "get along" and "compromise," all under the umbrella of "governing." Unfortunately, the Democrats look at campaigning as a 24/7/365 proposition, and the combination of the two has again shown the efficacy of the "Clinton mode," much to GOP grassroots chagrin.

The other half of that chagrin comes from the surprise invariably expressed by "savvy GOP insiders" every time they're bludgeoned by the same "permanent campaign" tactics.

Frankly, Orin's piece comes off to me like wishful thinking. Dubya's commitment to the "New Tone" has surpassed anything and everything else, even the GWOT and partisan loyalty. He's adamantly determined to be a nice guy, and if that costs him his entire agenda and a failed presidency, then that's what he's going to do, dammit.

I suppose it's not impossible that he'll come out swinging at his press conference tonight. But if he does, the extreme media will just depict it as "desperation," which is, frankly, the kind of coverage that the White House would deserve for bumbling away the post-election initiative by allowing a Hill GOP passivity it has done little or nothing to combat.

Perhaps the most maddening aspect of all this is that the President's agenda items are still eminently winnable, most especially breaking the judicial filibuster and Social Security private accounts, with tax reform and the energy policy proposals he introduced yesterday waiting in the on-deck circle.

But that will require more than just positive, "visionary" leadership"; it will also require the willingness to engage in full-scale partisan combat, and use the power the electorate gave the GOP last November to its fullest extent.

George W. Bush has proven his mettle against our Islamists enemies; now he has to show the same ruthlessness to their domestic political counterparts.

As with the Byrd option, I'll believe it when I see it.

[HT: Blogs for Bush]