The Republicans find it difficult to campaign on chopping away at the Federal government. Let’s be honest here, Bush created one of the largest government agencies ever – the Depart of Homeland Security.
There was a time when Republican Presidential candidates proudly and vocally campaigned on dismantling the federal government. In 1980, Ronald Reagan called for abolishing the Departments of Education and Energy and criticized H.U.D.
And yet, in office, Reagan, while famously failing to recognize his own H.U.D. secretary at a reception, could not get rid of the department—or any other, for that matter.
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So even as Republicans move to the right and conservatives come to dominate the party, the politics of dismantling government have not become more hospitable for them. Even for the most right-wing candidates, the ones who do call for getting rid of large chunks of the government, it can be a hard issue to campaign on. Just ask poor Rick Perry . . .