I should add to the list in 8th place (see post #7) — Terry Schiavo.
Whether a fiscal conservative saw that as a negative isn’t really the issue. Pro-life conservatives were totally turned off by both Bush’s washing their hands of this young woman’s life.
It would have been better for them to say to pro-lifers “I don’t believe in her parent’s argument.” than to say “my hands are tied.”
A president or governor who thinks someone’s unjustly having their life taken but doesn’t take extraordinary measures is viewed as a milquetoast or a compromiser.
If Terri Schiavo had been Terri Bush Schiavo, she would still be living. The Bushes are respecters of persons.