-Caveat Lector- > Free Congress Foundation's > Notable News Now > Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects > February 13, 2001 > > > The Free Congress Commentary > Bush Trying To Change The Tone Through Goodwill > by Paul M. Weyrich > John Ashcroft told me this story: After he had been defeated for > re-election > to the U.S. Senate and before he had any idea that he would be > nominated to > be Attorney General, he was making the rounds during the lame duck > Senate > session, saying goodbye to his colleagues. He caught the eye of > Senator > Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.). As Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial > Campaign Committee, Torricelli had spent millions to defeat Ashcroft. > In one particular case, Torricelli had accused Ashcroft, in an ad, of > pandering to some special interest by sponsoring a certain piece of > legislation. It turned out that Ashcroft was only a co-sponsor. The > chief > sponsor was...Robert Torricelli! > But the damage to Ashcroft's reputation had already been done. So > when he > saw Torricelli, at first Ashcroft hesitated. He didn't want to shake > hands > with Torricelli. But then he thought better of it and he went across > the > floor and held out his hand and said to the Senator from New Jersey > "I want > you to accept my apology. I was going to let bitterness rule. I > wasn't going > to shake your hand because of what happened. But that would be wrong. > You > beat me and that's all in the past and I just want to say no hard > feelings, > Senator." Torricelli was virtually speechless. He managed to come out > with > some nice cliche. And that was that. > A few days later Bush announced Ashcroft as his choice for Attorney > General. > Torricelli immediately had high praise for the Senator from Missouri. > Later > he gave his home phone number to Ashcroft, suggesting to Ashcroft > that if > the media needed someone to call over the holidays who would say nice > things, he would be it. > Ashcroft had every reason to believe that Torricelli would be a vote > in his > favor when it came time for confirmation. Ashcroft had applied a > Christian > principle (turning the other cheek) and it seemed to have moved > Torricelli > to act in a positive way. So far so good. The problem was that > Torricelli > did make positive public comments about Ashcroft. Among those who > read them > was one of his big time fundraisers, who also happens to be active in > the > abortion rights movement. This woman went crazy. Torricelli got the > message > in mega decibels. In the end, Torricelli was one of the three > Democrats who > had told Ashcroft he would be there for him who caved. > Now, George Bush wants us to put the Ashcroft business behind us and > to move > forward - and I am perfectly happy to do so. I do believe the story > is worth > mentioning, however, because George W. Bush is doing his level best > to > change the atmosphere in Washington. Like Ashcroft, he is going the > extra > mile. He is turning the other cheek. He is extending the olive branch > to > liberals and Democrats in a way that Washington has never seen > before. And > as with Torricelli, it is apt to have a temporary positive effect. > But Bush should understand that there are forces of evil at work in > this > town as well, and they are going to work against anything positive. > Not > that this fact should deter Bush in any way, mind you, but it is a > fact of > life. Bush should not be shocked or surprised if his goodwill > gestures do > not get him very far when it comes to the cornerstones of his > program. > The key is goodwill. If that is in good supply, remarkable things can > happen. Absent goodwill, nothing constructive will happen. > There is no doubt in my mind that Bush is exhibiting much goodwill. > He > actually means to change the tone here. I have listened carefully to > much of > the response. I don't hear a lot of goodwill in response. Indeed, > most of > the time I hear the opposite. I hope Bush won't be too disappointed > when > reality sets in. I don't know that he has a Plan B. > Paul Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation. > For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For other comments and inquiries, contact Angie Wheeler at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! 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