ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the contextual background of the 2000 election. It analyzes the domestic agenda within the 107th and 108th Congresses, demonstrating how its successes and failures support the model of policymaking. The chapter examines the election of 2004 and the agenda in the current 109th Congress to offer the predictions on its trajectory. It addresses why foreign policymaking differs from domestic policymaking, but still can be understood in the context of the revolving gridlock theory. The strategy for the President's Social Security privatization proposal has been based on several Bush tactics from past legislative successes. Between the Clinton proposal's defeat and the Bush election in 2000, health care was addressed incrementally, with health insurance portability legislation to cover adults between jobs and the Children's Health Insurance Program offering grants to the states. During the 2000 campaign, Governor Bush did not focus extensively on energy issues, although he did promise to explore new sources of energy during his presidency.
