This is far from an area of expertise for me - but reading Charlie Savage on a Supreme Court that increasingly believes in Presidential supremacy made me think - what happens if (I’ll be positive, when) a Democrat takes the White House in 2008? I don’t have the answers - but I think it might be interesting to consider how conservative believers in expanding the power of the executive might vote on the bench - and what that might offer a Democratic President.
None of this should be construed as me supporting executive power expansionist views - but for now we have what we have.
Comments 2
“what happens [when] a Democrat takes the White House in 2008?”
I think that this is the single best argument for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
If she is elected president, the GOP will stop at nothing to dismantle the unitary executive/imperial presidency.
And by the time she leaves the White House, the office of the president will be reduced to a minor government position falling somewhere between House Whip and Lisle postmaster.
***
As a side note, in his new book,Broken Government, John Dean addresses Bill Clinton’s use of the expanded executive power that he inherited from Reagan and Bush I.
Dean notes that because Clinton did not used that power in the manner the authoritarian conservatives intended, e.g. he expanded regulatory oversight rather than reducing it, the authoritarian republicans attacked. But rather than attempt to undermine the presidency (the office) they attacked the president (the man).
Remember how their constant refrain was that Clinton was not presidential and that he was soiling and dishonoring the office? Every thing they didn’t like — Monica to Bosnia to bombing al Qida to attempting health care reform — soiled and dishonored the office. And that George WTF Bush would return the presidency to glory.
I sure could use a less glorified White House right now…
– SCAM
Posted 13 Sep 2007 at 8:59 am ¶Hi SCAM,
Thanks for the side note - really contributes very nicely to understanding the GOP frame of mind.
Thanks!
Posted 13 Sep 2007 at 9:15 pm ¶Post a Comment