In his final four years, will Bush mimic Reagan and change his spots?

ON the campaign trail President George W Bush refused to admit a mistake and defended some of the most controversial moves of his first four years.

The million dollar question is: was this stubbornness political or genuine?

Does Bush intend to carry on with the policies of his first term or will he use his moment of triumph as an opportunity to forge a new direction? Speculation is rampant and plausible cases are being made for two scenarios. The first scenario might be called the “Reagan option.” Ronald Reagan’s first term saw a ratcheting up of tension with the Soviet Union and an escalation of the Cold War. However, his second term was very different, characterised by historic arms control agreements and better relations with the Soviets even though many of Reagan’s neo-conservative supporters strongly disagreed with that shift.