The Way to Win is not the Way to Govern

Mark Halperin, coauthor of The Way to Win, writes in The New York Times:

For most of my time covering presidential elections, I shared the view that there was a direct correlation between the skills needed to be a great candidate and a great president. The chaotic and demanding requirements of running for president, I felt, were a perfect test for the toughest job in the world.

But now I think I was wrong. The “campaigner equals leader” formula that inspired me and so many others in the news media is flawed.

As we start the section of the course dealing with policy, we might discuss Halperin's point.

Presidential management of domestic policy requires knowledge of the bureaucratic complexity that we have already discussed. Take civil rights, for instance. It has many dimensions: for FDR, it was a war issue. For LBJ, it involved the FBI and law enforcement. No single agency is "in charge" of civil rights. Instead, various responsibilties belong to (partial list):

• The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department
• The Office for Civil Rights of the Education Department
• The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services
• The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of HUD
• The Office of Federal Contract Compliance of the Department of Labor
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• The US Commission on Civil Rights

In trying to get hold of the domestic bureaucracy, the president relies heavily on OMB. Policy ideas sometimes come from the Domestic Policy Council.

The "policy streams (Pika 297-302) -- problems, solutions, and politics -- are all part of a broader policy process.

Hollywood Goes to the White House

A threesome:

• V for Vendetta
• C for Cookie
• Ron Paul video

Actors have endorsed presidential candidates. Harry Belafonte backed JFK. Ronald Reagan made a famous speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater.

Actors have run for president. Ronald Reagan usually played good guys, but in his last role, he played a villain. And here are Fred Thompson's greatest hits.

Movies and TV shows portray real and fictional presidents:

• Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988)
• Primary Colors (1998)
• The West Wing

Movies supply insights into attitudes of their time. Did Americans think about nuclear war in the years after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis? See scenes from two 1964 movies: Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove. Did a conspiracy kill JFK? Most Americans think so. And so Oliver Stone's JFK (1991) found an audience. Though a few years later, Seinfeld had a different take.

Anti-Mormon attacks on Romney

Last Thursday, news broke of anti-mormon calls being made in New Hampshire and Iowa. These were essentially attacks on Romney. Every other campaign has denounced the attacks and denied any involvement. McCain has gone as far as to ask the New Hampshire Attorney General to investigate. The latest speculation is that Romney may be behind the calls so that he can innoculate himself against attacks on his faith (similar to how Kennedy was behind anti-Catholic calls in 1960). An article detailing the possible links to Romney is here.

I'm curious as to the advisability of this tactic (whether it is by Romney or someone else). Presidential elections are open to much scrutiny, so I expect that we will learn who was behind the calls sometime soon. If it was Romney, will this actually help him? Or was it a political miscalculation that will dilute his leads in New Hampshire and Iowa?

The Democratic and Republican Shortlist

When the new president gets elected, they're probably going to be nominating a candidate or two for the Supreme Court. A few months ago, SCOTUSblog posted a "Short List" of possible appointees by Democratic president (with a follow up post) along with list for a Republican president.

The President and the Courts

How do presidents try to influence the courts? Obviously, Supreme Court nominations are a key method. See the story behind Justice O'Connor. How would the Democratic presidential candidates pick a justice?

Once justices are in place, the executive tries to sway the courts through legal arguments. Note the role of the Solicitor General.

The judicial branch, of course, restrains and influences the executive branch. The Bush administration recently lost a round on fuel economy standards but won a round on national security wiretapping. Can we generalize from these cases? In comparison with domestic issues, have courts been more reluctant to stay the executive's hand in matters of national security?

Primary vs. General Election

The Iowa and New Hampshire primaries demonstrate an interesting conflict in primary politics, according to a recent New York Times article (view the article here). The article mentions that voters in these two states are ranking the candidates based on two criteria. The candidates either appeal to the ideological views of the base constituency or they will prove to be electable on the national stage. This issue is extremely important for Republican voters who lack a clear cut front runner who is both electable and in line with the party's ideological views. I thought this was an interesting article as it relates to the strategies for primary politics mentioned in Halperin.

Congress NAILs the President

NAIL is a mnemonic device for four ways by which the legislative branch oversees or checks the executive.

• Nominations. The Senate must confirm presidential nominations to high-level executive posts. Most nominations are uncontroversial and win easy approval. But the threat of defeating nominees may influence the names that the president sends to the Hill. And confirmation hearings not only enable senators to judge the nominees' qualifications but let them send messages to the administration. See Leahy ask Mukasey about torture.
• Appropriations. Lawmakers may use earmarks and limitations are to direct and restrict the availability of funds for specified activities. Look here for a map of some earmarks. As with nominations, they may also use hearings to raise policy questions. See Obey ask Secretary Gates about Gitmo.
• Investigations. Congressional committees often conduct investigations and oversight hearings. One famous example was the Senate Watergate Committee, in which then-staffer Fred Thompson played a role. Congress may also study executive branch operations through the GAO, the CBO, and the CRS.
• Legislation. Of course, Congress may influence the executive by passing laws requiring or forbidding certain activities. As the readings point out, the Supreme Court ruled against the "legislative veto."

Congress seldom resorts to a more powerful weapon: impeachment. See the cases of Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton.

In curbing the executive, how successful has Congress been? Under which circumstances does which branch have the upper hand?