By Dick Morris

A curious reversal of history is underway as the GOP convention opens in Philadelphia. In 1996, it was Bill Clinton moving to the center while Bob Dole attacked his supposed moderation warning that he was a secret, closet liberal all along. Now, the part of candidate moving to the center is played by George W. Bush and the role of critic on the outside is played by Clinton.

Clinton is about to find out that his claims that GOP moderation is false will be as soundly rejected as was Dole's criticism of him four years ago. George W. Bush has no voting record. He has never been in Congress, so he can start fresh in defining himself in this election season. If he chooses to be a moderate, he can be a moderate. If he presents himself as a right winger, he will be that too. Clinton needs to realize that, like a duck, if it looks like a moderate, talks like a moderate, and acts like a moderate, it's a moderate. No amount of opposition nay-saying will undermine the GOP's effort to paint itself as the friend of education, the ally of Social Security and the advocate of Medicare.

As Clinton plays the role of attack dog, he undermines his own ability to impact the election. Clinton's political power stems from his ratings. His ratings flow from his image as president. The more he acts presidential, as he did at Camp David attempting to make peace, the more it will be good for his image and helps Democratic candidates from Al to Hillary. But when Clinton takes off the gloves and becomes a partisan brawler as he is doing lately, it sends his ratings downward and undermines his favorite candidates.

If the country sees Bush rising above the battle, articulating positive positions, while Clinton wallows in partisanship, it can only damage those the president is trying to help. There is no doubt that Bush has tightly controlled the right in Philadelphia just as Clinton muzzled the left in Chicago. By keeping the pro-life advocates off the stage and by maintaining the focus on education and other Democratic issues, Bush is making a convincing show of his determination to move to the center. His embrace of Cheney as Vice President despite his gay daughter shows that his commitment is more than cosmetic.

Anyone who knows the GOP realizes how radical the gesture really is. When Bush opens the convention with Powell speaking about inclusion and Laura Bush talking about education and children, it is a new Republican Party on display. Only the dedicated Democratic partisans will refuse to take it at face value. For Clinton and Gore to spend their time saying it's not so and that Bush is really a conservative in moderate disguise will do Bush no harm and them no good.