In 1982, his first year as Mayor, he inherited a 21 percent property tax increase set by his Democratic predecessor.

And it is that balance that the fiscal monitors say the Republican Mayor, like his Democratic predecessor, has not yet found.

The mayor frequently remarks that he, rather than any of his Democratic predecessors, signed the city's first domestic partnership law.

Then, he asked for the resignations of the members of the state's top policy-making boards and commissions, including those appointed by his Democratic predecessors.

President Bush didn't even acknowledge his Democratic predecessor's offer to help out in the Middle East.

He even expressed a hint of sympathy for his Democratic predecessor.

The incoming party leader offered no such praise for his Democratic predecessors, and instead issued a stern warning to the party.

President Clinton and his two Democratic predecessors were Southerners.

Making his favorite comparison to his Democratic predecessors, he said he had solved problems that no one else had been able to address.

To conservatives, this was a "me-too" echo of his Democratic predecessors.