REALIGNER IN CHIEF:

Dominance on GOP Agenda: Depriving Democrats of voters and money is among White House policies' other aims. (Peter Wallsten and Warren Vieth, February 2, 2005, LA Times)

President Bush's agenda for the next four years, much of which he will highlight in his State of the Union address tonight, includes many proposals that would not only change public policy but, the GOP hopes, achieve an ambitious political goal: Stripping money and voters from the Democratic Party and cementing Republican dominance for years after he leaves office.

One of the clearest examples is an effort to limit jury awards in lawsuits against doctors and businesses. The caps might not only discourage "frivolous" lawsuits, as Bush argues, but also deprive trial lawyers of income from damage awards that they could then give to Democrats.

"If we could succeed in getting some form of tort reform passed — medical malpractice reform or any of part of that — it would go a long ways toward … taking away the muscle, the financial muscle that they have," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who ousted Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle last fall despite a heavy flood of trial lawyer money backing the Democrat.

On issue after issue, the White House is staking out positions that achieve a policy goal while expanding the GOP's appeal to new voters or undermining the Democrats' ability to compete. Interviews with Bush advisors, a recent memo drafted by a senior White House strategist and a speech last month by the Republican Party's new chairman show that the political advantages are very much part of the calculation.

Bush's plan to alter Social Security, for example, would allow younger workers to divert some of their payroll taxes into privately owned retirement accounts. GOP strategists hope it would also foster a new "investor class" that would vote Republican.

Republican support for free trade undermines labor unions which, like trial lawyers, are a bedrock of the Democratic Party, strategists say.

The president's faith-based initiative, which encourages government funding for religious social service agencies, and his opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage are popular with socially conservative African Americans, who have for decades leaned Democratic but are increasingly viewed as potential GOP voters.

Many black parents, whose children attend struggling public schools, also agree with Republicans' support for school vouchers. And Bush's call to revamp the nation's immigration laws makes the party more appealing to Latinos, another traditionally Democratic group.

"Are we doing it because it creates more Republicans? Or are we doing it because it's the right thing to do, and by the way, it also happens to create more Republicans?" asked Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform and a frequent advisor to Karl Rove, Bush's chief political advisor. "It's both."

It helps that the Democrats have staked their credibility on attacking black and Latinos appointees and opposing any reform whatsoever of any existing program, no matter how old and outdated.

MORE:
Democrats mobilize against Gonzales (Rick Klein, February 2, 2005, Boston Globe)

Senate Democrats, eager to present a united front in opposition to President Bush, are seeking to vote in large numbers against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to become attorney general, which they hope will serve as a warning to Bush about future judicial appointments.

While Democrats yesterday focused on Gonzales's role in authorizing memos condoning torture of terrorist suspects, they also seemed to have an eye on the Supreme Court, where Bush is expected to have at least one vacancy to fill in the near future. Gonzales has been widely mentioned as a potential court appointee, and the current debate in the Senate suggests he would face a difficult road to confirmation.

Democrats opted not to mount a filibuster of Gonzales's nomination for attorney general because of insufficient votes and concerns about the political fallout.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 2, 2005 8:04 AM