Jeff Jacoby fails to consider all the possibilities:
WHY KOCH IS ON BUSH’S BANDWAGON. Ed Koch identifies himself with pride as a lifelong Democrat. The former New York City councilman, congressman, and three-term mayor says his values have always been those of the broad Democratic center — the values of FDR and Harry Truman, of Hubert Humphrey and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He disdains the Republican worldview as cold and unfeeling — “I made it on my own, and you should too.” The Democratic philosophy, by contrast, he sums up as: “If you need a helping hand, we’ll provide it.” No surprise, then, that Koch disagrees with George W. Bush on just about every domestic issue, from taxes to marriage to prescription drugs. But he’s voting for him in November.
I seem to recall someone saying that “Whenever someone is hurting, government has a responsibility to act.” That sounds a lot like Mr. Koch’s description of the Democratic philosophy: “If you need a helping hand, we’ll provide it.” Who was it that said that? Oh, that’s right, George Delano Bush! Why are Republicans supporting him again? I’m just curious.
Sure, it’s possible that Koch is supporting Bush solely because of the war/s, even though Kerry is likely to nuke half the Middle East just to get everyone’s mind off Cambodia and prove that he really truly always has been a Total Warrior Hero You Don’t Want To Mess With. But it’s also quite possible that Koch is supporting Bush because he knows perfectly well that they share the same philosophy.