"Hoover/Ike/Nixon/Ford/Bush/Bush all ended up hurting the Republican party.Yeah, like it's all their fault...having a Republican Congress that spent like drunken sailors was Bush's fault.
"Judges are big especially the SC and I think they were W. Bush’s only major saving grace. Most of the tax cuts sadly were passed with sunset clauses.Bush's fault!????? Best he could manage with the Congress he had.
"I don’t give much extra credit for “preventing attacks on US soil” cause that’s a basic minimum job requirement. Many freepers extol Truman for winning WW2, that was his minimum job requirement."NIce sentiment, but hardly reasonable or predictable. I don't know of anyone who would have taken that bet back in 2001 after 9/11. I'd say due diligence and a fair amount of luck was involved.
"As for personal integrity I’d rather have a modern day Calvin Coolidge with a sex and booze addition than the most honorable big government Republican. Maybe that’s just me."I'll take an honest man over what we had when Bush was elected and over what we have now however to be fair, Bush 41, Reagan, and Ford were all honorable men, as was Eisenhower.
"On several issues Bush was the “second best after Reagan” but that says more about the deficiencies of his predecessors."Fair ctiticism, I'm not attempting to beatify Bush, just be fair about him.
"Bush is a lot like Nixon vis a vis his image. The left hates them both to an extreme degree but that’s not a reason for the right to like them."Frankly, I liked Nixon...somewhat too "moderate" (that is to say liberal) for me, but kicked but on a lot of issues.
Of course Congress and it’s RINO leaders sucked worse than Bush. But he signed their spending bills. Going back to the 2001 farm bill.
It’s not either or I think Bush and the Hastert Congress were birds of feather.
Every demorat President from Wilson on has been an unmitigated disaster that did permanent harm. Clinton let terrorism fester for example, failing even a minimum test of competence.
We need a good leader though not just a “at least he’s not as bad as a democrat” type.