Nicholas Lemann and Judith Shulevitz

Dear Judith,

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First of all, although every schoolchild in this great nation has a chance to become president, the governor of Vermont does not. He couldn't even win the New Hampshire primary, I bet--because Republican primary voters, there as elsewhere, are far more anti-tax than they are anti-deficit. (Guess why Bush cut taxes so much? Because he was afraid Steve Forbes would beat him in the New Hampshire primary so he pre-emptively published the tax plan that will define his presidency. And then it didn't win him the New Hampshire primary.) If deficits are so injurious to Republicans, how come Reagan carried 48 states in 1984, when we were running the highest peacetime deficits in history? Bush's problem isn't that the public is anti-deficit; it's that Bill Clinton is haunting him from beyond the presidential grave with his idea of a Social Security trust fund. Running a deficit would be, for Bush, a way to battle Clinton's ghost--to say, OK, I'll accept the reality of the Social Security trust fund that you created, though an inspired rhetorical flourish, three years ago, and we'll just skin the cat another way.

But today we have at hand a much better set of clues as to what's really going on in the Bush administration than public statements about budget policy. The Washington Post, bless it, always publishes the menu and the guest list for state dinners at the White House--vital information that the rest of the national press turns up its nose at. Last night was the state dinner for President Fox of Mexico. Let's decode.

Here's the lead, as far as I'm concerned: The main course was "Pepita Crusted Bison." I can't imagine that bison has ever been served at the White House before, even in the Teddy Roosevelt administration. You can say it's a Republican thing, but would the Reagans or the first Bushes have served bison? I don't think so. Bush is a John F. Kennedy in reverse, foodwise: Kennedy, scion of Irish pols, reinvented himself as an aristocrat and hired a French chef at the White House; Bush, scion of aristocrats, is a born-again Bubba who serves big game (and "Red Chile Pepper Sauce Tequila Sabayon").

Now let's move on to the guest list. Here's what I noticed: 1) Very little media, and no Establishment media except Andrea Mitchell, who's on as Alan Greenspan's spouse. The only media ticket-header was Brit Hume of Fox News, he of the frequent denials that he's a conservative. 2) Speaking of Establishments, Texas Establishment si (Ray Hunt, Anne Armstrong), Eastern Establishment no. 3) Condi Rice and Colin Powell were both invited, but Rice's deputy was there and Powell's wasn't--a sign, perhaps, of Rice's higher favor at court. 4) Many Cabinet members in attendance, but not the two whose departments are the dearest to Bush's heart, Donald Rumsfeld of Defense and Roderick Paige of Education.

5) And--misleading numerology, because this is what you always look for first on such lists--one person I know, Ricardo Romo, the president of the University of Texas at San Antonio. In a way Ricardo's being there was automatic because he's the highest-ranking Mexican-American educator in Texas, but I would also note that he is the proud papa of the "Texas 10 Percent" plan, under which the University of Texas got around a court decision banning affirmative action by automatically admitting anybody in the top 10 percent of a Texas high-school class, without regard to SAT scores. It's interesting that practically the only conservative movement cause President Bush has taken a big pass on is the battle against affirmative action. It's also interesting that Jeb Bush (who was also at the dinner last night) has embraced that cause and has royally pissed off minorities in Florida in the process. I've often thought that if Jeb Bush had done in Florida what George Bush and Ricardo Romo did in Texas, the Bush boys wouldn't have needed a recount.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Rep. Henry Hyde was at the dinner with a woman (or wife) who shares your first name: Judith Wolverton. As my cousin Alice used to say--"One of our girls?"

Love,
Nick

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