Word: basic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...point. I think the ability to run a good meeting is a sign of good leadership," he says. The typical Bush meeting begins with an adviser making a presentation. But instead of listening patiently, Bush interrupts, peppering the adviser with questions. Sometimes the questions seem startlingly basic. During a briefing last year by defense experts, Bush stunned the room when he asked, "What's an army for?" "At first you had the feeling, 'Uh-oh, this guy's not so bright,'" recalls a participant. What it took advisers a moment to realize was that Bush was being deliberately provocative--forcing...
...that's just half of the puzzle. Bush sings a sweet song. He's the uniter-not-a-divider. But his entire campaign is designed to mask a basic question: Bush may know who he is, but does anyone else in his party? While Bush runs as "a different kind of Republican," majority whip Tom DeLay has not changed; much of the rest of the leadership has not changed; the party platform has barely changed. He is treated as the messiah by conservatives left in the wilderness since Newt Gingrich was exiled, who have been willing all year long...
...years. One example: three years ago, the Bronx's P.S. 3 ranked 672nd among New York City schools--fourth from the bottom. The city fired the principal, replaced two-thirds of the teachers, extended the school day and switched from a touchy-feely "real life" curriculum to one emphasizing basic instruction in reading and math. In one year, math scores on the state exam jumped 15% and reading scores...
...country where trashing politicians is a staple of late-night comedy and water-cooler banter, the only people who are not supposed to disparage politicians are their opponents. There seems to be little distinction between underhanded smears and hard, defensible attacks, only a growing consensus that making the basic argument of a campaign - that I am the right choice and my opponent the wrong one - is somehow dirty pool...
...with sitcoms, there are really only a few basic plots for negative ads, and they are made over and over. This year the Republican Leadership Council rebroadcast the scathing attacks of Ralph Nader - no Bush lover - on Gore's environmental record; in 1980 the Reagan campaign aired the anti-Jimmy Carter fulminations of Ted Kennedy, friend to supply-siders everywhere. Bob Dole lifted a clip from the "Daisy" ad for a 1996 attack spot against Clinton. The Gore camp bashed Bush for pollution in Houston (substitute "Bush," "Dukakis" and "Boston Harbor," and you've got 1988) and tagged Bush...