"Thank you, Mr. President"

By Dave Andrusko

If we know anything about politics and how its subtleties are typically discussed in the press, it's that the more "glamorous" a candidate who agrees with their views may appear, the more the press will pump up perceived (and real) strengths and overlook flaws, no matter how egregious. The poster boy for this kind of close-your-eyes-and-give-them-every-benefit-of-the-doubt coverage is, of course, Bill Clinton.

President George W. Bush represents the flip side. The pages of many a thesaurus have grown dog-eared and bent, reflecting the efforts of many a reporter to find new ways to trivialize/minimize the accomplishments, acumen, and political sophistication of a genuinely good guy whom they neither like nor understand.

Pro-lifers always knew different. We never "underestimated" him--the buzz word for the press's unwillingness to ever give him credit for what the President plainly deserved. Having either met him and/or watched him work, first as governor of Texas, now as President, we knew Mr. Bush was one of us, a man with a plan to help initiate a new conversation on an "old" topic: abortion.

When many scribes and pundits woke up November 6, they suddenly discovered that Mr. Bush is an enormously disciplined, thoughtful, and tireless campaigner for what he believes in. We're even told that he is no longer the "accidental President," but a man poised perhaps to be one of the most powerful chief executives in the last 40 years.

Thanks to his virtually non-stop effort on behalf of his party's candidates, Mr. Bush now enjoys the benefits of Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate. This is truly remarkable.

Consider: Whereas the party of a President typically loses 22 seats in the House the first elections after he takes office, Republicans bolstered their numbers by 6-7. Leadership remained in solidly pro-life hands.

Likewise in the Senate, where the customary loss in the first off-year election is two seats, the President's party won a net of at least two. (There is a special election in Louisiana yet to be decided.) At long last, pro-abortion Senate Majority Leader (and obstructionist par excellent) Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) will be replaced by pro-life Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

From our specific vantage point, these against-the-tide results were accompanied by an increase in our numbers in the House by two to five and the Senate by at least two. All in all the first Tuesday in November was a day we shall not soon forget.

By the same token, we will never forget what President Bush did and continues to do for the cause of unborn babies. When you read the editorial on page 2, you will notice that I focus a lot on the senatorial contest in Minnesota. There's a reason.

No race better illustrated how tired the pro-abortion mantra has become, how winsome the win-win pro-life perspective remains. No race better illuminated the limitations of "it's a woman's choice" shorthand when pitted against a pro-lifer who can thoughtfully articulate the case for life.

In his low-key rebuttal to the impatient, impoverished, and imperious gibberish of pro-abortion former Vice President Walter Mondale, Norm Coleman modeled how the abortion issue works to the benefit of pro-life candidates who know the issue. The response in Minnesota to Coleman's abortion remarks illustrates that Mr. Bush's call for a new "tone" on this and other contentious issues is exactly what most people who are neutral on abortion will respond to.

Thank you, Mr. President, for keeping the United States moving forward on an issue the resolution of which is so crucial to the future of our great nation. Thank you for working so hard for pro-lifers such as senators-elect Coleman, Jim Talent of Missouri, and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia--to mention only the seats where pro-lifers replaced pro-abortionists. Thank you for your inspirational example, which helped pull millions of pro-lifers to the polls in key states.

And thank you, most of all, Mr. President for your faithfulness on behalf of this noble cause. We look ahead to 2003 with renewed hope, confidence, and assurance that all that can be done, will be done.