Ross Ramsey is the editor of Texas Weekly, a publication covering Texas state politics. He is in Madison this week as a participant in the UW-Madison public affairs writer-in-residence program. The Daily Cardinal had a chance to talk with Ramsey about his observations of President Bush during the latter's time as Texas governor and Bush's handling of the United States' fight against terrorism.
In what capacity did you relate to President Bush when he was the governor of Texas?
I was a political writer when [Bush] was governor. I wrote for the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Times-Herald before I became the co-owner of Texas Weekly. Now, with Texas Weekly, I'm both editor and writer. So I've been covering him pretty indepth for some time now.
From the leadership President Bush displayed as governor of Texas, do you feel that he has in any way changed either his positions on certain issues or the style in which he leads since he has become president?
Take the death penalty, for example. The Texas voting public, for the most part, supports the death penalty where there are clearly large sectors of America where people just don't like the idea at all. I think we've seen him temper his policies some; we've seen him moderate.
Additionally, in Texas there is a public policy position called the 'double-death position.' If somebody is both pro-choice and pro-death penalty, that person is usually a democrat, which is not an unusual position to be in in Texas. Now a republican is probably pro-life but pro-death penalty. I know its odd to talk about those things in the same context, but that's sort of where Texas politics sits. When you take that national, that's not where national politics sit, so you modify your positions and I think he's done a good job.
How do you think America's present situation will affect President Bush and how do you see him reacting to it?
It's interesting; when the father arrived in office, he had a great r??sum?? for foreign policy and, largely, was handed a pile of domestic problems to solve. Now, the son arrives with a better r??sum?? for domestic politics and suddenly lands a bunch of foreign problems to solve. Presidents always have a way of marshaling their forces and their staff and their own minds whenever a problem presents itself. So far, he's been about that and we'll see how it plays out.
Do you see any elements of a 'Texas Mentality' carrying over into America's response to the recent terrorist attacks?
I don't know if you can take a 'Texas' position to the terrorist attacks ... however, the Texan in President Bush is quite evident. Some things that sell fairly well in Texas and in the South hit the ears of other people in a strange way. When he talked about 'those folks over there' some people were slightly shocked that he used the word 'folks.' He also used the term 'wanted dead or alive,' which doesn't come across the same way in one part of the country as it might in another. But the president has only been in office for seven months. At this time a year ago he was the governor of Texas'there is a learning curve here. He has to modulate his language differently when he's talking to a national audience than when his audience is San Angelo, Texas. It's a different audience, but sometimes you hear the Texan bleed through.
Do you expect President Bush, as an individual, to be more passive or more aggressive in handling America's current situation?
I think that Bush is underestimated as a decision maker. It's true that he's not the guy that is going to read the briefing book on Afghanistan and he's not going to study the intricacies of foreign policy. That's not the way he's wired. He has stronger people around him now than he did in Texas in a sense that the federal government is a tougher nut to crack. I think he'll make the final calls on impending matters of importance.
Now some people kind of wonder who actually is making the decisions. For example, on the day of the attacks, when the president was flying around the Midwest, he didn't seem to be flying the headquarters around as well. That has to make one wonder whether the decision-making was in Washington or if it was on that plane. Nevertheless, there are a fair number of people around the nation who have doubts about whether Bush is the strongest personality in his circle. The one thing he will do as time goes by is prove them wrong or right. My own suspicion is that he is the alpha personality there, but time will tell.
