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February 20
Don't Shoot - It's Tax Week
by William Lasser
Among the informal but very real powers of the president is the capacity to set the national agenda "More often than not," writes one political scientist, presidents "are able to transform policy ideas from items of discussion among a few to items of discussion among the many." A president, in other words, can "force other politicians to pay attention to the matters they think are important."
George W. Bush's advocacy of a major across-the-board tax cut is a perfect example of the president's agenda-setting power. By making his proposal a centerpiece of both his campaign and his first few weeks in office, Bush single-handedly ensured that Congress, the media, and the general public would at least give the idea serious consideration. Within a few days of January 20, in fact, political pundits recognized that there would be a tax cut-the only issue now is how much, and how to distribute it.
But the president's power to set the agenda has its limits, as Bush learned last week. Beginning with his February 3 radio address, the Bush team had mapped out a strategy designed to build public awareness and support of the president's tax plan. Using a technique borrowed from presidential campaign politics, Bush intended to focus the nation's attention on the tax issue-and only the tax issue-for nearly a week.
The technique is a simple one. A presidential candidate who wants to focus on a single issue talks about that issue-and only that issue-until he decides to move on to a new topic. Thus the campaign has "tax day," or "education week." Since neither the candidate nor his aides will talk about anything but their chosen issue, and the news media covering the campaign thus have little choice but to focus on the issue as well.
Following the plan, Bush participated in one major media event every day from Saturday to Thursday (excepting Sunday). On Saturday, he devoted his radio speech to the tax issue. On Monday, he appeared with three families, each of whom represented one of the federal tax brackets, and produced a giant-sized check for $1,600 made out to "U.S. Taxpayer." On Tuesday, he traveled to suburban Virginia to meet with small-business owners. On Wednesday, he appeared at a reunion of families who had appeared with him during the campaign. On Thursday, Bush made a show of formally sending his tax proposal to Congress.
As the week progressed, however, it became increasingly difficult for Bush to keep the nation's attention focused on tax reduction. On Tuesday, for example, Israeli voters selected the controversial Ariel Sharon to be there new prime minister. Wednesday's news was dominated by a Bush aide's announcement that the administration would be closing White House offices on AIDS and civil rights-an announcement which created so much controversy so quickly that it was reversed by the end of the day. And a little later on Wednesday, authorities wounded and apprehended a ex-IRS employee who had waved a gun at the White House. There were plenty of other stories, too, from the continued flap over Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich to a presidential dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
The bottom line? Presidents can and do influence the nation's political agenda. But the nature of the presidency makes it virtually impossible for the White House to manage the news on a daily basis. Foreign countries do not arrange their election calendars so as not to coincide with tax week, nor do crazed gunmen check with the White House schedule office to see if they will be interfering with the presidential message of the day. What works on the campaign trail does not always work in Washington.
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