This was a flip-flop that was almost inevitable. The president who claims to mean what he says is suddenly finding that his opposition to a federal tobacco buyout may not be “operative” for a successful campaign.
Bush’s hostility for the buyout sounded unambiguous about a month ago. In Ohio, Bush received a question about the policy and the president didn’t hesitate.
“They’ve got the quota system in place — the allotment system — and I don’t think that needs to be changed,” Bush said.
The reaction was swift and severe — from Bush’s allies.
Tobacco state lawmakers from his own party responded with confusion and anger to Bush’s comments, which they said took them by surprise.
[…]
“I’ve heard from any number of good Republicans who said they’ll either stay home or vote Democrat in the fall if the White House doesn’t change its position,” said Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va.) on Friday. “It’s critical for the White House to move fast.”
Complicating matters for Bush, John Kerry stepped up and announced that he supported the buyout, which was welcome news to voters in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, who suddenly wondered which candidate was really on their side.
As recently as two weeks ago, the White House spokesman Trent Duffy insisted Bush wouldn’t flip-flop on this. But in a political panic and under intense pressure from southern Republicans worried about Dem progress, the White House is quietly letting people know Bush is ready to reverse course.
In an election-year switch, the Bush administration is willing to consider multibillion-dollar legislation to end the government’s Depression-era tobacco program, congressional Republicans said Thursday.
Only last month, President Bush said he does not believe the current system “needs to be changed.”
But Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in an interview that administration officials had “communicated very clearly” a willingness to consider signing a tobacco buyout bill that satisfies several conditions.
Remind me again which candidate is known as the flip-flopper?
“The White House has stood in the way of a tobacco buyout for years and is continuing to do so,” Kerry campaign spokesman Anthony Coley said Thursday night. “Farmers and their families need a president who will fight for them, not someone who likes to play election-year games and fails to do the work needed to make a buyout a reality.”
I don’t know how good Kerry’s chances are in a lot of these southern states, but I wonder how these farmers feel about Bush playing politics with his tobacco policies.