It's not Bush-bashing. The initial article posted in this thread discussed Bush's impact on the GOP, and I'm merely saying that I agree with it to a certain extent. Whether we like it or not, Bush WILL be a factor in 2006 and 2008. He really shouldn't be, because not all Republicans are like Bush and Bush isn't like all Republicans, but politics is politics. Just as we tried to link Gore to Clinton's corruption back in 2000, you know Hillary or whoever else will do the same in 2008 with respect to Bush. As a result, Bush owes it to this party to have the White House communicate better, to promote policy that Republicans can be proud of, and to do anything he can to make sure the GOP ISN'T demonized as the party of corruption or incompetence. He may not be running again, but the party certainly will be. It's the least he could do.
As I said, Bush is who he is. He isn't going to change. He isn't going to become articulate, and crafty, or proactive about details when details matter, and change his views about how to deal with illegals, or do a Kissinger on Iraq, or go native about Big Oil, or anything else. He will continue to do what he believes in. Bush is going to be Bush, until the end. In fact, I doubt that he is really that engaged about containing Pubbie damage in 2006.