Poor Marshall. I almost think he's starting to wish he'd voted for Gore.


President Gumby.
The Moose tracks course of the Gumby Presidency.

With the President's embrace of the corporate governance bill, the symbol of his Administration becomes Mr. Gumby. Bend them, stretch them, they will conform to the circumstances. In the absence of his own domestic agenda, W will accommodate the Democrats'.

This has been the M.O. of the Bushm Presidency, with the exception of the tax cut. In that case, the donors had to be reimbursed. The adaptation of the Democratic agenda applies to the congressional Republicans, as well.

Every time that the Republicans have confronted a popular Democratic measure, they have largely accepted it or offered a discount version of their own. The President eventually signed campaign finance reform, the farm bill, the federal airline security legislation and now corporate governance. All of these measures were initiated by Democrats or maverick Republicans. The White House offered their discount variations on Democratic legislation on HMO reform and prescription drugs.

Even the presumptive White House initiatives were expropriated from others - the national service proposal and the new homeland security agency. Trade promotion authority is a long cherished power by Democratic and Republican Presidents. The much heralded education reform law was more Ted Kennedy than George W. Bush. And the President hardlyeven mentions his own faith based initiative anymore.