Team Bush Is On A Crusade

A mighty army of religious warriors is being assembled on the president's behalf.
(The New Republic) This column from The New Republic was written by Michelle Cottle.
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Karl Rove is no idiot. I realize this observation sounds obvious. But it bears repeating -- often -- as Democrats and Washington's chattering class become increasingly excited about conservatives' increasingly public criticism of the Bush administration.

Perhaps more than any other field, politics embraces the kick-a-guy-when-he's-down outlook. Thus, with W. suffering a popularity slump due to his breathtakingly mismanaged Iraq odyssey, it's unsurprising that many on the right have begun to grouse about other Bush moves that they see as ideologically impure.

Sure, the tax cuts were great. But what about the massive deficits run up on W.'s watch? The White House can jaw about the cost of fighting terrorism all it wants, but a budget analysis conducted by, of all folks, the Heritage Foundation indicates that less than half of new spending under Bush has been related to defense or homeland security. Conservatives are less than thrilled about the president's big-government prescription-drug bill -- not to mention his noxious, federally intrusive No Child Left Behind program. And speaking of intrusive, a colorful mix of right-wingers (including the leadership of the Eagle Forum, the American Conservative Union, and the Free Congress Foundation) think the Patriot Act could use some serious tweaking before John Ashcroft starts implanting spy-cams in everyone's underpants.