I agree. If big government and spending like a drunken sailor weren't enough, the kennedy/bush/mccain amnesty scheme was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak.
Posted on 09/23/2007 2:06:06 PM PDT by South40
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. - Republican presidential candidates can't be any more clear: President Bush isn't welcome on the campaign trail.
Competing to succeed him, top GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain barely utter Bush's name. They essentially ignore the lame-duck president, or give him only passing credit, as they rail against the status quo and promise to fix problems he hasn't solved.
"We all know Americans want change," said McCain, an Arizona senator, explaining the aversion to aligning with Bush. "I give him credit for a number of things but I think the fact is Americans are turning the page, including our Republican primary voters."
The candidates are walking a fine line. They are trying to tap into the deep discontent those voters feel about the state of the country without alienating any who hold Bush in high regard. At the same time, they have to counter the Democrats' powerful arguments for a new direction.
How candidates handle the 800-pound elephant in the room now could have implications beyond the primary. Privately, Republican strategists agree their nominee will lose next fall if the general election is a referendum on Bush. They say GOP candidates are wise to distance themselves from the president now, given his unpopularity among the public at large.
Bush holds the opposite view.
Asked last week whether he is an asset or a liability for Republican candidates, Bush replied: "Strong asset."
To be sure, none of the candidates want to be attached to Bush's legacy, afraid that doing so will make them sitting ducks for Democrats.
Who can blame them?
The unpopular Iraq war has bogged down his presidency. His party is in an uproar over out-of-control spending on his watch and embarrassing scandals among GOP officeholders. His job performance rating is at a low 33 percent, according to a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Only 28 percent think the country is moving in the right direction. Half of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents think the country is on the wrong track.
Take Dan Wilson, 55, and Janet Frederick-Wilson, 47, of Westland, Mich. The Republicans voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, but they've lost confidence in him over the past few years for what Frederick-Wilson said were a million different reasons. "Overall, he's lost touch," she said.
"He's kind of lost his way, unfortunately," Wilson said. "He started strong and then his office affected him."
Neither has settled on a candidate for 2008; both say they are looking for someone who can make them proud to be Americans again.
Another two-time Bush backer, Margaret Schaefer, 69, of Dearborn, Mich., calls the president resolute and honest but acknowledges woes in the GOP.
"We need to get back to our roots, and I think George Bush thought that's where he was going, but he was led astray," she said. "His legacy's not going to be terrific."
Despite such deep frustration, Republicans on the whole still like Bush — and don't like those who beat up on him.
That's prompted GOP hopefuls to tread delicately. They rattle off problems and propose solutions, seeking to make the case for change without going as far as to bash Bush, at least not openly.
The straddle — and the absence of Bush in the race — was apparent over the weekend as the four leading Republicans spoke to 1,500 GOP activists on an island in Lake Huron.
In separate speeches spanning two days, they repeatedly invoked beloved conservative Ronald Reagan; Bush was hardly mentioned.
All laid out challenges facing the country, from national security to immigration reform to health care, and argued they were the elixirs for what ails the GOP and the country. What little praise there was for Bush was muted by somber assessments of the challenges ahead.
"Republicans for change," declared Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who offered a blistering critique of the GOP. He argued that Republicans bore just as much of the blame as Democrats for failures in Washington, such as runaway spending and ethical lapses in his own party. He claimed he was best suited to lead a dispirited GOP in a new direction.
He gave Bush some praise for keeping the United States safe and restoring integrity to the Oval Office. When pressed, Romney refused to lump Bush in with the very Republicans he was criticizing.
"I'm not pointing fingers," Romney told reporters in one breath, only to say in the next: "We have strayed a little far from our principles and vision, and I think that's happened over the last several years."
McCain used his speech to channel Reagan, comparing the conservative behemoth who faced down the Soviet Union in the 1980s to his own calls for resolve in Iraq and against terrorists. Never once did McCain mention Bush, though he generally panned the president's leadership, saying "the war in Iraq has not gone well."
Rudy Giuliani skirted Bush entirely. He set up an us-against-them scenario with Democrats on just about every issue and argued the country would go backward, not forward, under their leadership. He received perhaps the most hearty applause with his lone direct reference to the president for enacting tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Giuliani said they helped put more money back into the private sector.
As for Thompson, the former Tennessee senator painted a bleak picture of future if changes aren't made, particularly on the economic front, saying "we're on an unsustainable path" and bemoaning the irresponsibility of leaders who haven't solved looming issues though they've had years to do so.
"We've got to send a message to politicians in Washington that we are better than that," Thompson said.
With statements like those, there's little doubt the president hasn't gotten the message.
Where's the fence? Where's the fiscal responsibility...
Two good points/questions.
When you think about it, it is interesting the positives and negatives of the Elder Bush and this President.
Both had successes in Iraq, and floundered on domestic policy.
Neither has learned a thing from it.
Both are convinced they did all they could. Both remain convinced nothing needed or needs to change. And both think they’re major assets to this nation.
At this point I’m just not buying the fairy tale any longer.
Thank you. Sorry to have double posted to you. Take care.
This is nothing but MSM/DEM spin....Walking the GOP into defeat.....
Just as the MSM/DEMs did in 06 - "don't politicize the WOT", "Don't tout our successes, thats bringing politics into the war".....So the GOP just allowed the DEMs/MSM to run the WOT/Iraq down with no response.....and we lost.
GWB Presidency hasn't been perfect (no President's has been. Thanks you R. Reagan for burdening another generation into Soc Security via RAISING FICA taxes on all Americans)...
But the notion that GWB who stands for tax-cuts, stronger defense, taking the fight to our enemies, and winning this WOT.....These are the issues the next election will be decided on......IF the GOP has the stones to stand up and run on them (in support of what GWB has started).
yeah...but he wants to sign into law the dream act!!!
is a very clear sign that we are at a distinct disadvantage in 08.
Not even remotely good that we cannot use the coattails of a successful president.
Ask Mr gore.
And he has succeeded in many things, but his unwavering stance on the immigration bill debacles killed him. - and badly hurt our chances of holding the WH against a very strong clinton machine. - Period, finito, end of story, adios.
We need to plan for the assaults from the Clintons along these lines, as well.
The GOP has become a target rich environment, and that is not good either. - and Bill knows it very, very well.
The candidates need to pick a side and stick with it. Would they cut out the big government programs Bush has given us? Would they continue No Child Left Behind? Do they think he did a good job here at home? These are real questions, not superficial ones.
You may call it a AP hit piece but there are many who think Bush has blown it w/ his big spending, big government and amnesty scheme.
Nothing here about Bush nearly destroying his base and his own Party by selling us out on the illegal immigration issue. IMO, that has a lot to do with his massive unpopularity.
Give me one hour and could post a story with quotes that says exactly the opposite,nice try ap,keep trying to pump up hillary also;)
Thanks Dev! Yet another bash fest here, I see.
Yes, but history will judge him on his successes, and he has had a lot of those.
I agree. If big government and spending like a drunken sailor weren't enough, the kennedy/bush/mccain amnesty scheme was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak.
At least the GOP candidates are taking the fight to the Dems. Bush denounced MoveOn.org only after Rudy and McCain did. Where was this before from Bush?
And that's the thing about Bush. He never realized the potential he had.
Yes, and I happen to be one of those who hasn’t been pleased with the President. But then again, I think the AP is worse.
If you truely beleive defending conservatism is somehow ‘pumping up hillary’ you are seriously confused.
Bush can and has.
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