Bush will not waste his. As he said explicitly during his news conference yesterday, “I earned capital on the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.” After all, in his first term, with his political career at stake, he undertook Iraq, something that no one asked him to do and that promised only terrible political risk. He knew that he was wagering his presidency but did it nonetheless because he thought it necessary for the safety of the nation.
If he did not hoard his political capital then, he will not now. Knowing he will never again run for office, he is going to attempt several large things, most notably reforming Social Security and perhaps radically simplifying the tax code. He was careful to mention both in his speech on Wednesday when he claimed the election, and during his news conference yesterday when he claimed his mandate. These tasks carry such political risk that politicians rarely talk about them, let alone attempt them. In his first term Bush devoted no political capital to these domestic issues because he had spent it all on Afghanistan and Iraq. With a second term and a solid mandate, his account is replenished. He is not a man to sit on it, collecting coupons.
Exactly.