JOHN DIIULIO, THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL and University of Pennsylvania professor on leave, runs President Bush,s faith-based initiative. But that,s not the half of it. He advises Bush on a range of social policy issues. He consults with White House speechwriters, and did so for Bush,s May 20 commencement address on compassion at Notre Dame. DiIulio is called on for his expert opinion on crime legislation and gun policy. He recommended John Walters for drug czar, then suggested the post retain cabinet status, which it did. He visited with Cardinal Bevilacqua of Philadelphia on May 14 as the prelude to Bush,s drop-by to see the Catholic leader. “When asked, I just put my two cents in,” DiIulio explains. DiIulio has hit it off with Bush. “They,re in sync,” says a White House aide, though DiIulio still calls himself a Democrat (“with a capital D”). “They,re both straightforward and candid-no b.s.” DiIulio doesn,t have a West Wing office-he,s perched in the Old Executive Office Building next door-but he sees Bush plenty: seven times in a recent two-week period. DiIulio has become pals as well with Karl Rove, Bush,s all-purpose adviser. One reason is, as an aide put it, “DiIulio knows everything about everything.” And he knows that the faith-based initiative could be the most important social policy innovation in years and has the potential of becoming the major legacy of Bush,s presidency. Bush knows this, too, which is why he has chosen to reemphasize the program, starting with the Notre Dame speech. “The person who has the most faith in the faith-based initiative is the president,” says a White House official. Bush was upset to see the program encounter flak after its unveiling in January-without being vigorously defended, except by DiIulio. Criticism came particularly from Christian evangelicals, who had been expected to be enthusiastic, and conservatives, who fear it might metastasize into a new New Deal. Now, evangelicals are coming around. And conservatives never had much of a case. The initiative is based on the notion that social programs of the New Deal-Great Society ilk haven,t worked-this is conservative dogma-while private faith-based ones run mostly by churches have. The idea is to steer some federal and local funds, plus a lot more private charitable donations, to these successful programs, so they can expand and be duplicated. The faith-based initiative is likely to get a large boost in June when a new private agency will be established in Washington to promote the federal program and raise money for it. “Intellectual infrastructure,” DiIulio calls it. The group will cooperate with the White House while remaining independent. It is to be headed by Mike Joyce, soon to step down as head of the influential Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee. At Bradley, Joyce is best known for creating and funding Milwaukee,s successful school choice program. But he also underwrote numerous faith-based programs, including several associated with DiIulio. The genesis of the outside group was a memo in March to Joyce from political consultant Frank Cannon. It advocated a private entity to build support for the faith-based initiative in much the same way Grover Norquist,s Americans for Tax Reform and other conservative organizations have built support for Bush,s tax and spending proposals. Cannon and Republican strategist Jeffrey Bell, who guided Gary Bauer,s presidential campaign in 2000, are expected to work for the new group as consultants. The private organization will tout both parts of the faith-based project. The government part, the less important of the two, is designed to put faith-based programs of job training, drug rehab, literacy, and the like on an equal footing with secular organizations in applying for government grants. Once “charitable choice” is expanded-Congress is expected to go along with this-these faith-based programs will have a shot at roughly $65 billion in federal money annually. DiIulio says perhaps $6 billion to $10 billion may go to faith-based social service programs. Only a trivial fraction does now. Nothing, however, is guaranteed: There will be no set-asides for faith-based groups. One such set-aside was instituted at the Department of Health and Human Services under Clinton. Bush rescinded it. “The real action is in the private and philanthropic and corporate sector,” DiIulio insists. “That is a much bigger deal in the long run than anything that will happen with government. That,s where the money is.” And that,s where the Joyce group may be especially helpful. As envisioned by the Bush administration, private donations would provide the bulk of support for faith-based programs, while the federal and local governments would help. But, as it stands, many Fortune 500 companies have a ban against contributions to organizations with even a remote connection to religion. That must change, says DiIulio. With prodding by Bush and help from Joyce, it may happen. “When the president speaks,” DiIulio notes, “people listen. It,s the kind of thing the president,s interest and passion can change.” At which point the coffers of the White House,s Compassion Capital Fund should begin to fill up, a public-private matching scheme will be triggered, and the grass-roots faith-based groups will have another source of funds in addition to federal grants. All this sounds great, but there,s a long way to go. For now, the true believers in the initiative are located at the White House, in mayors, offices, and in the faith-based groups themselves. DiIulio doesn,t expect conservatives to be excited. “It,s different from the conventional conservative view,” he says. “We,re not going to get rid of cabinet agencies and we,re not going to slash programs.” On the other hand, Philadelphia,s Democratic mayor John Street is as enthusiastic as Bush. Philadelphia has a number of faith-based programs, mostly run by black churches. As an academic, DiIulio studied them, and Bush, as candidate and president, has visited a few. “On this issue, John Street and George W. Bush are the same person,” according to DiIulio. “You couldn,t pick two people with backgrounds and life trajectories more different. God must have a good sense of humor [to bring them together].” DiIulio returns to his home in Philadephia several nights a week, then takes the 4:05 A.M. train back to Washington. Overweight and overworked, he looks like a candidate for a heart attack. He relishes meetings with White House aides. “It,s like a university faculty meeting, with two exceptions,” he says. “The issues are real and the people are nice.” But it,s Bush,s commitment to the faith-based initiative, DiIulio says, that motivates him. “Every president has a budget and other things. Not every president has a faith-and-community initiative. This is in his heart. If it weren,t, I wouldn,t be here. More than any other issue, it defines the man.” Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.
