Just a Coincidence

If you look hard enough, you might notice a pattern in Bush's top domestic policy initiatives.

When President Bush stands before Congress on Wednesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, it is a safe bet that he will not announce that one of his goals is the long-term enfeeblement of the Democratic Party.

But a recurring theme of many items on Bush's second-term domestic agenda is that if enacted, they would weaken political and financial pillars that have propped up Democrats for years, political strategists from both parties say.

Legislation putting caps on civil damage awards, for instance, would choke income to trial lawyers, among the most generous contributors to the Democratic Party.

GOP strategists, likewise, hope that the proposed changes to Social Security can transform a program that has long been identified with the Democrats, creating a generation of new investors who see their interests allied with the Republicans.

Actually, you don't have to look very hard at all — this unprecedented convergence of politics and policy is the worst-kept secret in Washington. Indeed, conservative power-brokers like Grover Norquist openly brag about it. Not much effort is spent spinning the strategy except to say that it's all just a happy coincidence.

Republicans note that limiting the growth of lawsuits and damage awards, as well as proposed investment accounts in Social Security, are ideas Bush and other conservatives have championed for years. The Bush agenda lies "at the wonderful intersection where good policy is good politics for Republicans and conservatives," said Stephen Moore, president of the Free Enterprise Fund, which is lobbying for the Social Security changes.

Good politics? Maybe. The outcome of the fight over Social Security will be the big test here, I think. But good policy? Hardly.