Where's the Leadership?

While I’ve always been one to strongly defend President Bush on many fronts, I have to say that the recent approval of the “Plan-B”, or “morning-after” pill leaves a bitter taste in my mouth as to the current administration. No matter how you look at it, Bush was very much responsible for the approval of this measure. He strongly endorsed a questionable nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, and has, so far, given no indication that he disagrees with the FDA’s decision last week to approve over-the-counter sale of the drug to women over 18-years of age. It’s a glaring inconsistency in Bush’s pro-life record and even more startling considering his recent veto to ban further expansion of government funding for embryonic stem-cell research. The latest development involving Plan-B highlights my growing concerns with the Republican leadership in the nation. To say that it is frustrating that a Republican president and Republican-controlled congress simply watched with tacit-consent as this measure sailed effortlessly into the harbor of our nation’s laws would be an understatement. President Bush will get it right most of the time on issues like these, but it seems that, from time to time, he becomes distracted and wanders too far from his conservative base, and acts irresponsibly. I’m reminded of the Harriet Miers fiasco. Did he honestly think he could slip that one by the very base that sent him to the White House twice? Conservatives still shake their heads asking themselves, what was he thinking?!

I’m troubled by the lack of conservative leadership in Washington right now. I cannot come up with a satisfactory answer to the question as to why Bush is not interested in leading the conservative movement, a la Ronald Reagan. To be sure, Bush utterly lacks the eloquence of the silver-tongued Gipper, but that is not to say that he couldn’t accomplish much more if he only tried, especially in light of the fact that the current president enjoys a majority in congress (for now) that Reagan could have only dreamed of. The unfortunate truth is that Bush simply is not interested in spearheading a conservative movement in this nation. He’s conservative in some things and not in others. He picks and chooses. In his economic policies and spending, he reminds me more of FDR, an eerie but unfortunate truth. Another fear I have is the ramifications this latest blunder will have, politically speaking, come November. Conservatives understandably are deeply frustrated with the long list of wasted opportunities that a sphinx-like president and spendthrift congress have let go by the wayside. This could lead to a degree of ambivalence among conservative voters who feel that they’ve been let down, even betrayed, by their representatives who simply don’t share their values. The only consolation is that the other side really offers no alternatives, only venomous rhetoric and complaints. But if self-described conservative elected officials shirk their responsibility to reflect the values of their constituents, what appealing alternatives remain for the voters? I suppose, for now at least, as the stakes are so high, we ought simply plug our noses and vote Republican.