I reluctantly ended up at the same conclusion. There was a lot of successes and a lot to celebrate during those eight years, but in the end it was a failure. Mostly due to the complete collapse of public opinion. I generally look at Bush’s term in two parts, the first four years were largely good (obviously, we can pick at some of his domestic policies as problematic). As a party, we also faired well gaining seats in 2002 and getting to 55 Senate seats by 2004. Largely, he performed as a successful CIC and leader. The second term was a flop. The floor dropped out on all fronts. The economy sank, the war policy (despite the right call on the surge) was horribly unpopular, and the party collapsed. I give him high marks for the 1st four, and a solid F for the second.
Yes, a reluctant, unhappy conclusion indeed. What Bush (and Rove) never realized is that what you say as President is as much, and maybe MORE, important than what you do. When you are a Republican President, you represent all conservatives, the concept of free enterprise, a strong national defense, etc - whether you really believe in those things or not. That’s how our system works.
When Bush refused to fight in the arena of ideas, he was selling conservatives, free enterprise, etc, down the river.