Hubris
and rigidity continue to be the downfall of this administration. For reasons incomprehensible to me Mr. Rove and the other decision-makers in this administration (if there are any others) continue to have a one note approach to policy-making. Until reading Dana Milbank's piece on the failure of the faith-based initiative bill in today's Washington Post I hadn't really realized the extent to which the approach that we have seen so vividly illustrated when dealing with Iraq and foreign policy is the operating philosophy across the board.

(My friends laugh at the fact that I always expect people to be smarter than they are, even in the face of cumulative evidence to the contrary. I sometimes confuse potential and cleverness with intelligence. Maybe I am just a slow learner. With a tendency to wander off of the subject.)

Anyway, according to Mr. Milbank, the administration basically shot themselves in the foot because they took an all-or-nothing approach.

"supporters and opponents say, the initiative was doomed by the White House's lack of flexibility. "Once the program was crafted, it was 'We're going with it -- are you with us or against us?' " said Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute. Horowitz, a conservative, pleaded with the White House to drop the troublesome part of the policy -- direct funding of church activities -- in favor of tax credits, which had much broader appeal. But the White House wouldn't hear of it. "From the start, it was destined to march the president right into the swamp, which it did," he said.


"Bush's faith-based advisers recommended proceeding with the noncontroversial tax incentives while holding off on the "charitable choice" provisions to see if a consensus could be reached or if less controversial alternatives, such as vouchers or tax credits for individuals receiving treatment, could achieve the same purpose.

But Karl Rove and Bush's other political strategists were hearing none of it. These advisers encouraged House Republicans to proceed quickly with full-fledged faith legislation, vastly expanding charitable choice. Led by then-Rep. J.C. Watts (Okla.), House GOP leaders decided to follow the tax cut model: Go for as much as possible, and dare anyone to oppose it and risk being seen as anti-religion."

Sounds a lot like the War on Iraq strategy, does it not?

If the democratic strategists can use a little intelligence and keep maneuvering the GOPpers into a place where they dig their heels in (like Rick Santorum did today) eventually even the dullest of voters will get it.