The Reoublicans' behind-the-scenes power putcsh

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-suskind/how-politics-trumped-gove_b_130380.html

Ron Suskind

How Politics Trumped Governance

So, how did we get a war inside the Republican party that may leave
the economy in shambles? Look to the end of last week, when McCain
made his odd Washington cameo.

First, a bit of subtext: the legacy of the Bush years is how politics
trumped governance. McCain, egging on these Republican anti-Bush/
Paulson insurgents during his brief return, was doing the politics-
first, win-at-all-cost, dance. He was, in essence, telling Bush it was
payback time (after all McCain had done, holding his nose, in a
support role for W since 2004). Specific, unspoken instructions to
Bush in that big White House blow up: give way (and lose face) as the
new Republican party -- which McCain now claims to lead -- alters his
Treasury Secretary's $700 billion bailout. This will make McCain seem
like the de facto president, filling a vaccum, giving him a huge
election time boost -- maybe enough of a boost to win.

Bush's response, screw you; I'm still in charge and, incidentally, I
don't believe in reciprocity. Bush's position: Loyalty goes one way
with me, it flows upward, and I'm still the President. I thought you
got that, John.

This behind the scenes power putcsh is why most of the House
Republicans are now opposing Bush. They're done with him, that's
clear, and running from him like the Republicans did in Nixon's final
days. For his part, Bush is trying to make sure no one else (and
especially McCain) has a chance to step up into the void. With Bush,
everything is personal -- it's how he makes sense of a complex world
and tries to bend it to his will.

Historically speaking, the Bush/Cheney/Rove innovation of this period
has been the view that politics and governance are not incompatible.
In fact, their view is that politics fiercely played -- triumphing in
daily news cycles and winning as a first principle -- is the guiding
strategy of governance.
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