Bush v. Clinton

Over in the Corner, John Miller notes a sentence from Tom Bray's review of Fred Barnes' book on Bush.

Mr. Bush, contrary to media hysteria on the subject, mentions Jesus Christ less often than Bill Clinton did.

I've got to say, that's not surprising. Nor is it surprising that Clinton could get away with without media hysteria. And there's a simple reason for it. It's the same reason that Clinton could talk tough about Iraq, drop bombs in Kosovo, "mend" the welfare system, and talk about keeping abortion "rare."

He didn't mean it. And everyone on his side, everyone who gets upset when a Republican does or says any of those things, knew it. When George W. Bush talks about Jesus, people know that he means it. When Bill Clinton does it, they knew that he was pandering to those intolerant "Jesus-freaks" on the religious right. When George W. Bush started talking about what a threat Saddam Hussein was, the left was up-in-arms, because they knew that he meant it. When Bill Clinton sent cruise missiles into Iraq, everyone understood that that was as far as it was going to go.

George W. Bush carries the Bible as a source of inspiration, as a guide, as a reminder of who is and where he came from. Bill Clinton carried the Bible as a prop.