Bush might support a lot of conservative positions ( e.g., Tax Cuts, Social Security reform/privatization, Partial Birth abortion ban, Defense of Traditional Marriage, Strong Military, etc. )
But in other areas, he has been less than conservative ( and I think he never hid this in his campaign).
For example -- strengthening Federal control of education, steel tarrifs, never vetoing any spending bill, actually out-spending Clinton, Carter and LBJ, signing the McCain-Feingold bill, Diversity regardless of capability ( e.g. Harriet Miers ).
Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president.
Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.
Actually we elected a "compassionate conservative", remember?
Apparently "compassionate" means "false".
I have pointed this out before on FR - that Bush campaigned as a moderate - and been nearly laughed out of the room. But it's true.
When he came to our hometown, I nearly didn't go because I don't particularly care for moderates. And our newspaper labeled his "compassionate conservative" style of govering as moderate.
And I think he's governed as a moderate during his presidency. Some liberal philosophies and some conservative philosophies.
That's why it cracks me up when I hear the media go ballistic because he's too conservative.
Hes a placeholder President. Better than most. The question is placeholding for what? Im afraid hes got the same clueless disengauged gene his father had. What is he working on? What conservative victories are coming down the pipe? Name one.
Conservative brethern..ask yourself..what has he done for conservatives in the last 3 years???
Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.
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The choices are pathetic. Bad or worse. This country needs A REAL CONSERVATIVE in the Oval Office. Washington is clearly out of control. Only a Reagan conservative, with a Congressional majority can fix it. It is not being fixed now, because Bush is not a conservative and he is not a fighter.
At this point, I rate him only a little above President Reagan.
Um, Bush campaigned as a "compassionate conservative". This article is very bad.
"Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president."
Yup! If he'd been a real conservative, he would not have been elected. He's not, so he was.
My parents, who are now 81 years old actually split their vote in 2004. I cannot remember a time when they did not vote the GOP ticket, right down the line.
Were it not for moderate support for President Bush, we would have a different President in the White House.
I keep reading about Bush's "base." For those who are confused on this matter, Bush's "base" is not evangelical Christians or Constitutionalists. It is middle-of-the road America. That's Bush's base, and always has been.
You can see this in the suprise posted here each time President Bush has gone in a moderate direction. CFR. Immigration. Spending like there was no tomorrow.
President Bush is a moderate Republican. He is not now, nor has he ever been a true conservative. Neither is Miers.
Lets face it folks -- We elected a moderate, not a conservative president.
Our only consolation is this -- the alternatives were worse.
A national candidate who campaigns as an extremist ideologue is guaranteed to lose.
Thankfully, the same thing usually applies to hard-core liberals, too. Mike Dukakis is one exception I can think of. That ACLU candy-@ss somehow slipped through the cracks -- and promptly got trounced in 1988 by a guy who will be remembered as one of the most limp-wristed, mediocre presidents this nation has ever had.
It's like going into a restaurant where there's nothing but pot roast and meat loaf on the menu, then complaining to the waitress that you want filet mignon.
I pretty much agree with what's here except for the term "moderate." I think Pres. Bush referred to himself as a compassionate conservative. Since he pretty much created the term, he got to define it.
That included tax cuts, pro-life (rilom), pro-gun, social safety net, no child left behind, faith based social supporter,....
Bush did say he would improve our military defense, push for tax reform, nominate strict constructionists to the courts and advance pro-life issues. I think he's accomplished all that for the most part. Even though I knew he'd probably raise spending in the name of compassionate conservatism, I never thought he'd increase spending to the levels he has and actually get the GOP Congress to go along.
Bush has been a mixed bag. Conservative on some issues, moderate on others. However, Bush`s liberal spending habits has led to the biggest government expansion since LBJ. Bush is no believer in limited government.
I noticed the author characterized conservatives disgruntled with GWB as "neocons." I supported William Knowland for Governor of California in 1958; and voted for Nixon and Goldwater for president in 1960 and 1964, respectively. Not just neocons out here. But W was never more than a Hobson's choice to me.
Interesting. Ping for later reading.
2000 was the McCain election. Bush qualified as conservative because he wasn't McCain. He also had a Southwestern accent and an evangelical manner which differentiated him both from his father and with McCain. That was enough to convince many that Bush was the conservative in the race. You might also add Bush's call for a "more modest" foreign policy during the campaign. That may have helped to convince many that Bush was an old-fashioned conservative.
Bush is a combination of insider and outsider. As a businessman who didn't win a political race until relatively late, he's a political "outsider." As the son of a president, who took many of his advisors from administrations his father served in, he's a classic "insider." Outsiders don't quite rise to the interests and passions of the ideologically active. Insiders tower above ideological preoccupations. So it was natural that Bush didn't quite fit in to the "movement" view of things. But then, no president will ever satisfy those who are most driven by political ideas.