Bush’s Well-Mapped Road to Victory

IT is difficult yet to have much perspective on Bush’s freshly minted reelection victory, but it may well rank among the most extraordinary Republican campaigns ever. Confronting bad news almost daily, a ferocious attack by a united Left, and a hostile press corps, Bush won a resounding victory. His campaign was strategically brilliant and technically proficient, correctly assessing the nature of the electorate and election from the beginning and acting on its knowledge with great tactical verve. It built a grassroots force that, had it been marshaled on behalf of a liberal, would be celebrated as a great “people’s army.” It creatively found a way around the establishment press. And it brought home a win that could be a long-term boon to conservative ideas.

The strategy and the tone were set at the top, by the president most importantly, and by the aide he has dubbed “the architect,” Karl Rove. They created a team that was cohesive and disciplined, and carried out from beginning to end a plan toward one goal: a victory that would build a second-term mandate. “The president is one who believes in building a mandate—always has,” says Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie. “That’s what elections are for.” It was not to be an empty Reagan 1984 or Clinton 1996 reelection.

About the Author

Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review.

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IT is difficult yet to have much perspective on Bush’s freshly minted reelection victory, but it may well rank among the most extraordinary Republican campaigns ever. Confronting bad news almost daily, a ferocious attack by a united Left, and a hostile press corps, Bush won a resounding victory. His campaign was strategically brilliant and technically proficient, correctly assessing the nature of the electorate and election from the beginning and acting on its knowledge with great tactical verve. It built a grassroots force that, had it been marshaled on behalf of a liberal, would be celebrated as a great “people’s army.” It creatively found a way around the establishment press. And it brought home a win that could be a long-term boon to conservative ideas.

The strategy and the tone were set at the top, by the president most importantly, and by the aide he has dubbed “the architect,” Karl Rove. They created a team that was cohesive and disciplined, and carried out from beginning to end a plan toward one goal: a victory that would build a second-term mandate. “The president is one who believes in building a mandate—always has,” says Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie. “That’s what elections are for.” It was not to be an empty Reagan 1984 or Clinton 1996 reelection.