Bush’s first month better than predicted, experts say
February 20, 2001
He has only been in office for one month, but already President George W. Bush has taken a trip out of the country and launched a military attack.And political critics are watching every step.With expectations low for the fledgling Bush administration, some political analysts have said anything the administration accomplished in the first month was good enough.”It’s true there were low expectations, but he exceeded them,” said Aaron Fister, president and producer of ISU9’s “Politics Unlimited.” “His style shows he has a master’s in business. He finds good people and delegates responsibilities to those people.”Melissa McArthur, vice chairwoman of the ISU College Republicans, said she is happy with the president’s first month in office.”So far, I think he is doing a pretty good job,” said McArthur, freshman in pre-business. “It’s about time we have a Republican in there.”However, Bush has received criticism for Friday’s air attacks at radar sites in Iraq, an act that mirrors his father’s administration.”I feel — and a lot of people feel the same way — it was a really drastic reaction,” said Debbie Kattenhorn, president of ISU Democrats. “I agree with a radio person who made the joke that said, ‘Look what I can do, Dad.’ I question that action.”With the delayed results of the Nov. 7 election, Bush had less time than past presidents to build his executive branch. Yet, the majority of his Cabinet has been confirmed with only one casualty, labor secretary nominee Linda Chavez, who removed herself from the nomination.Fister, junior in management information systems, said he was surprised by the quickness with which Congress approved Bush’s Cabinet. He said this was done in a better timetable than President Clinton’s in 1992.Bush traveled south to Mexico last weekend, leaving the country for the first time in office, although he visited Mexican President Vicente Fox several times as governor of Texas.Bush’s first month in office has been overshadowed by continued coverage of former President Bill Clinton.”I am getting tired of hearing about former President Clinton,” McArthur said. “It seems like he is always on TV.”Clinton has made headlines since he left office for the alleged theft of White House furniture, his eleventh-hour pardons, the price of his New York office space and his Little Rock Presidential Library and Museum.”[Bush’s first month] was uneventful because Clinton has been taking up all the air time,” Fister said.Bush has also received criticism for his funding support of faith-based organization and his proposed tax cuts.”As a Democrat, I am questioning [Bush’s] actions,” said Kattenhorn, senior in political science. “I’m not very happy about it. This is how he thinks it should be and it doesn’t help everyone.”Some political experts are questioning Bush’s experience and continue to have low expectations of his administration. Fister said analysts point to Vice President Dick Cheney’s day-to-day handling of presidential work and the lack of young people in the administration.”One criticism is there are no young people in the Bush White House,” Fister said. “The vice-president role is being redefined again. Cheney is handling a lot of day-to-day work at the White House.”