"U.S. President Needs Suprapartisan Approach"

The New York Times pointed out that reelected President George W. Bush should carry out a suprapartisan policy in order to cure a national separation that appeared during the presidential election and implement accumulated tasks.

The New York Times emphasized in an editorial of November 4, “Forty-nine percent of voters who expected a different result are disappointed, and voters who supported President Bush are concerned about economic uncertainty, job losses, medical insurance, social security, fiscal deficits, and an excessive homeland security budget. Hence, suprapartisan policies are necessary in order to solve these problems.

The editorial also pointed out that because of voters’ preferences about a candidate as well as their memory of 9/11, the Iraqi issue did not become an obstacle to President Bush’s reelection, but that he has a true responsibility to approach the opposition party in order to come out of the Iraqi swamp.

Concerning the U.S. foreign policy, the New York Times suggested, “President Bush should ask for help from its traditional allies again at this moment, and the world community should respect the U.S. choices and listen to British Prime Minister Tony Blair who pointed out that stability in the Arab world cannot be achieved without contributions from the U.S.”

Additionally, the editorial urged President Bush to prioritize national unification, by warning that President Bush may follow the intentions of the conservative group in selecting the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since he has a consciousness owing to the Evangelical Christians, who contributed decisively to President Bush’s reelection.

The paper also called for unified politics by saying, “President Bush had promised to be a uniter four years ago and failed to be, but this time he can be the uniter. President Bush now has a chance to prove that Democratic voters, who believed that if the counterpart candidate were elected the country would collapse, were wrong.”

Kwon-Heui Hong konihong@donga.com