The Second Term

Going back to Townhall, we have this analysis from Bruce Bartlett.

As the Republican National Convention approaches, pressure is building on Present Bush to lay out a second term agenda. With John Kerry running no worse than even in most polls, many Republicans believe that Bush needs a big idea of some kind to galvanize his supporters. I think they are probably going to be disappointed.

The fact is that very few presidents ever have a meaningful second term agenda. First of all, they don’t need one to get re-elected because they cannot run for a third term. Second, they don’t have the time or the political clout to get anything big through Congress because they are lame ducks.

This just gosh-darn inspiring. Vote For President Bush; He's unlikely to do much.

Of course Mr. Bartlett' analysis assumes that nothing big is going to happen during the second term. It also ignores rumblings that a war with Iran may be already in the build up phase. But still it is nice to know.