YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET:

Bush shifts gear, speaks of vision for second term: Answering critics, he cites plans for education, taxes (Anne Kornblut, July 22, 2004, Boston Globe)

Just one week before his Democratic rival will receive his party's nomination, President Bush last night offered the first outlines of what his own presidency would look like if he wins a second term, citing plans for changes in education standards and the tax code and seeking to dampen criticism that he has not offered a vision for how a Bush presidency would look if it continues to 2008.

''During the next four years, we will spread opportunity to every corner of this fine country," Bush said, saying he will work to eliminate junk lawsuits, impose higher standards in public high schools, and lower taxes. [...]

White House advisers originally said they were intentionally withholding the second-term agenda, seeking to let the suspense mount leading up to the Republican convention next month and to inject fresh issues into the campaign just as the public starts paying serious attention around Labor Day. They said it would be pointless to articulate new positions at this point, when they would be drowned out by the upcoming Democratic convention.

As Iraq fades into the background and the economy becomes a positive for the President, the agenda will roll out. Its main features will be elements of the Opportunity Society: private retirement accounts, HSAs; school vouchers; and the FBI. It would be helpful, though unlikely, for him to propose a major tax overhaul too--either a flat tax or a consumption tax to replace the entire current code.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 22, 2004 8:25 AM