Two words:
“Nation Building”
Even a lot of Dems were smart enough to see it was a stupid idea.
There is a much simpler explanation: Most Americans dont trust Republicans on matters of war and peace. Not after the nation-building disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is. Why should they trust us? Our leadership has never admitted it made a mistake. Sen. Ted Cruz, to be sure, had the gumption last fall to say that we got too involved in nation-building and that we should not be trying to turn Iraq into Switzerlandand was excoriated for his trouble by the Bushies. The Republican mainstream is too busy trying to defend the Bush record to address the distrust of American voters.