Conservatives question the sanity of those who spend all their time whining at their own side. Wonder why so many supposed Reagan Fans forget his 11th Commandment.
""What conservatives have realized during the last five years is that we have not elected a conservative president," said Bill Lauderback, executive vice president of the American Conservative Union. "Nor do we have a conservative majority in either the House or Senate.""
Which makes it particularly irritating to hear President Bush called right wing.
I don't question it anymore. He's not reeeeally a genuine political conservative. He's a genuine Christian (though misguided here and there), but his politics is an odd mix of ideologies. He has the "nice guy" philosophy, which can be dangerous. I hope we never again choose a guy without a firm foundation in conservative principles AND philosophy. Bush means well, but he just doesn't always get the big picture.
The President can only afford to be as conservative as the Congress will allow him to be. He cannot veto the Republican Congress to bring them into line. Too many Republicans might lose their seats as a result.
On the whole, the President is doing a decent job. Congress, however, is doing a bang up job of screwing up. If it isn't the Democrats making things worse with their incessant rhetoric that continually inflames the rest of the world at the United States, it is the lack of true conservative leadership in the Congress. Too few Republican congressmen are willing to forego pork barrel spending or give the President a line item veto on the budget.
Some say that the President should take the whip to the Republican Congress and make them confine their spending to the limits he proposes. If the President had line item powers, he probably could. Since he doesn't, he's stuck accepting to declining any budget passed by his Congress, which means Congress has the President over the barrel when it comes to domestic issues.
The President is not a lame duck. In regards to his foreign policy, he has had the Congress by the bridle since 9/11. His domestic agenda however is another story. The biggest problem are the polls. His low poll numbers may not influence him very much, but Congress is another matter. Our representatives believe they live and die by the polls. Liberal push polling has influenced many Republican representatives to move to the center or even the Left when it comes to domestic spending.
I don't think this is going to result in a backlash in this coming election, but in 2008, if our representatives don't get some real conservative work done, there will be a backlash against the Republican Congress. The Presidency will probably stay with the Republican Party just because the President's foreign policy and the nature of our enemies will necessitate the perception that our country needs a steadfast leader who will deploy American forces against any threat to our country. The Democrats won't be able to reinvent any of their party leadership to fit the strong leader persona they'd need to win the Presidency in 2008. Congress, of course, would be another matter entirely.
Pence, Keene and Bozell-- three phonies who NEVER did a damn thing for the conservative movement!!!
/sarc
The problem with judging a President for all things is that we all know a President has many pressures, from the political parties, to family, to the press, to world politics. Bush has certainly kept his head. I disagree with all Presidents about many things as I even do with Bush, but at least Bush isn’t running around like a jackass as did Clinton.
One would probably search Nexis-Lexis in vain for "hardline liberals", or "the hardline Left."
Vote for Conservativism, vote for Gridlock.
What would conservatives like Bush to do? "Big government" is here to stay and I don't see anyone being able to change that.
Must not criticize Bush, must not criticize Bush, write it as many times as you must until the big government nausea fades :)
Bush will be with us for three more years, like it or not, unless conservatives join with liberals to impeach him.
Sometimes that doesn't seem like such a far-fetched notion.
Never before has a basically good man been hated so univerally by both sides.
This article should have appeared in the journal "Duh." Bush is not a conservative. He was simply more conservative than either Gore or Kerry.
We need another Reagan. Is Senator George Allen the one to do it?
Bush campaigned for a big-government Prescription Drug plan. We got a big-government PD plan.
I like Bill Lauderback, but can he homestly tell me that we have learned about the PD only after Bush was elected?
Incidentally, most of Latin America is going communist on Bush's watch.
Just who I want giving me the pulse of conservatives... Will Lester.
He's a Bush.
You got what you nominated.
The above comments pretty much sum it up for me regarding president Bush. I'd love to see the GOP nominate a Reagan conservative as the GOP candidate for president, but it is doubtful it will happen.
However, almost anyone they nominate (and I hope it's not Guilianni or someone of his ilk) will be more conservative than who the Democrats nominate.
And no I won't be sitting home for the presidential election, and have NEVER sat home for an election. There is always a first time, however, but not at the presidential level.