Bush accepts honour with pride

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JAN. 20. The new U.S. President, Mr. George Walker Bush, speaking at the Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots Ball on Friday evening, had said, ``in less than 24 hours I will have the highest honour and that is become the Commander-in-Chief of the greatest nation in the world. I accept that honour with pride. I accept that honour with purpose.''

The transition from eight years of the Clinton era has been smooth, but many Democrats and supporters of the defeated Vice- President, Mr. Al Gore, are yet to come to grips with the outcome November 7 Presidential election's outcome. Even if they do no talk about the hanging and swinging and pregnant chads, many point to the fact that Mr. Bush won 30 States but he still lost the popular vote and made it through the Electoral College by a technical ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The new President may have made history by following the footsteps of his father, Mr. George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st President, but historians are quick to point out the similarities between 1824 and 2000. It was a bigger mess in 1824 and John Quincy Adams squeaked through in a vote in the House of Representatives with cries of foul. Mr. Bush would not want only one part of that history to repeat - John Quincy Adams served only for one term.

One of Mr. Bush's first official acts will be to formally submit his Cabinet nominations to the Senate; and Mr. Bush, who has been speaking consistently on education, has set apart much of his first week in office on the subject including a scheduled ceremony at the White House on Tuesday where the educational package will be submitted to Congress. The Senate, meeting after the inauguration, is expected to pass some of Mr. Bush's Cabinet nominees, including Gen. Colin Powell as the Secretary of State.

It is expected that the Bush administration will focus much of its energies on domestic priorities even while staying glued to the developments on the world stage. But the domestic focus is what is going to guide an administration through some potentially turbulent times with Congress.

Mr. Bush has been frequently talking about casting away the divisiveness of Washington D.C. and to forge bipartisanship. But the President, known to reach out to groups, will find the going harder from the Republican right-wing than from those lawmakers considered left of centre.

The Republicans take control of the White House after eight years at a time when Democrats are intensely focussed on regaining Congress, they narrowing missed in last year's elections.

Educational reform and flexibility is not the only priority for Mr. Bush. He has been pushing, for some time, now his $1.6- trillion across-the-board tax cut over ten years.

This is one of the most debated issues on Capitol Hill, but the incoming Bush administration plans to push it in a determined fashion.

Some Democrats are inclined to go along with a tax cut even if they are opposed to the total package. Some of the flexibility stems from a perception that after eight years of solid growth and expansion, the economy has started slowing down and hence a tax relief may be appropriate under the circumstances. Other issues Capitol Hill will seeing the Bush team will include prescription drugs, social security and medicare and partial opening up of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

On foreign policy, the Bush administration has set a high degree of attention on the National Missile Defence System; and Cabinet nominees such as the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, and the Secretary of State have told Senate Committees that the incoming administration will be going ahead, but after more consultations with allies overseas and countries such as Russia, vehemently opposed to the idea.

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