[Graewoulf]

RINO File.

[Theoria]

The previous postings of this:

I Think I Owe an Apology to George W. Bush.

Compassionate Conservatism Redux [Was "Compassionate Conservatism" of Bush 43 Correct?]

[donna]

Hey Jonah - check the facts instead of rewriting history:

November 8, 2004
...the untold story of the 2004 election, according to national religious leaders and grass-roots activists, is that evangelical Christian groups were often more aggressive and sometimes better organized on the ground than the Bush campaign. The White House struggled to stay abreast of the Christian right and consulted with the movement’s leaders in weekly conference calls. But in many respects, Christian activists led the charge that GOP operatives followed and capitalized upon.

This was particularly true of the same-sex marriage issue. One of the most successful tactics of social conservatives — the ballot referendums against same-sex marriage in 13 states — bubbled up from below and initially met resistance from White House aides, Christian leaders said.

In dozens of interviews since the election, grass-roots activists in Ohio, Michigan and Florida credited President Bush’s chief political adviser, Karl Rove, with setting a clear goal that became a mantra among conservatives: To win, Bush had to draw 4 million more evangelicals to the polls than he did in 2000. But they also described a mobilization of evangelical Protestants and conservative Roman Catholics that took off under its own power. (snip)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32793-2004Nov7.html

[I cannot think of a name]

I have a friend (obviously much richer than I) that knows GWB and donated lots of money to him during his run for Governor and then President. He always says he only saw the guy he knows one time during that eight years, and that was standing on a destroyed fire truck in the middle of a rubble pile.

It almost seems as if it really doesn't matter who you send to Washington. Once there they are taken over by ‘advisers’ who make sure there is not one honest or sincere emotion allowed to be shown.

[Smokeyblue]

"Still, it’s worth remembering that Bush won a staggering (for a Republican) 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. Romney got 27 percent."

Bush was running against white guys, Gore and Kerry. Bush would have lost to Obama too. Hispanics, Asians, Blacks and even Cubans voted for the half-African marxist because they dig his getting one over on whitey.

Moreover, according to exit polls, Romney decisively beat Obama on the questions of leadership, values and economic expertise but was crushed by more than 60 points on the question of which candidate “cares about people like me.”

Also, Bush would have lost because he would have rolled over and said nice things about Obama too. Just like McCain and Romney.

[sickoflibs]

RE :” Bush liked to say that he was a “different kind of Republican,” that he was a “compassionate conservative.” I still hate that formulation. Imagine if someone said, “I’m a different kind of Catholic (or Jew, or American, etc.): I’m a compassionate Catholic.” The insinuation was that conservatives who disagreed with him and his “strong-government conservatism” were somehow lacking in compassion.
As a candidate, Bush talked endlessly about how tough a job single mothers have and scolded his fellow conservatives for failing to see that “family values don’t end at the Rio GAs president, he said that “when somebody hurts, government has got to move.” According to compassionate conservatives, reflexive anti-statism on the right is foolish, for there are many important — and conservative — things the state can do right.
Compassionate conservatism struck me as a surrender to liberal assumptions about the role of the government in our lives. A hallmark of Great Society liberalism is the idea that an individual’s worth as a human being is correlated to his support for expansions of the entitlement state.”

Oh brother. Guess what? By 2008 GWB would have lost to O in a landslide. His compassionate conservative strategy was a short term one and those single Moms and Hispanics he got votes from in 2004 would have voted against him in 2008.

Romney's problems were of his own makings, standing for nothing (except what appeared to be rich guys like himself) blaming the voters instead of Obama. He was great at going after Republicans and the voters but he treated O with kid gloves.
He failed to come up with a convincing argument that his policies would help the voters that he needed. He was the wrong candidate for sure. And Akin and CO didn't help either.

Lets not learn the wrong lessons here.

[freedomrings69]

Bush left us with huge deficits and an economy in desperate shape. He started TARP and the GM bailout. It hardly pays to elect Republicans who give us statist liberal policies. If that is what Jonah is selling I will pass.

[freedomrings69]

Bush left us with huge deficits and an economy in desperate shape. He started TARP and the GM bailout. It hardly pays to elect Republicans who give us statist liberal policies. If that is what Jonah is selling I will pass.

[cradle of freedom]

George W did a lot to damage the Republican brand.

The 9/11 attack and the war on terror dominated the Bush presidency but can anyone remember what he campaigned on in 2000? I wonder what his administration would have been like it there had been no September 11?

[cradle of freedom]

George W did a lot to damage the Republican brand.

The 9/11 attack and the war on terror dominated the Bush presidency but can anyone remember what he campaigned on in 2000? I wonder what his administration would have been like it there had been no September 11?

[RobbyS]

Wrong. Bush created the biggest federal entitlement program since the Great Society. It did get him re-elected, but left the country saddled with yet another unaffordable entitlement. For it he had neglected the war in Iraq, and then, after re-election, he still failed to make the war his prime focus. Blame it partly on Casey, another affirmation of the Peter Principal, but because hope is not a policy. We may never find out what the hell was going on in 2005-6, but obviously it was a pushmepullye thing. Bush wanted to forget he was a war president. He didn’t take care of first things first. Finally, he did what he had to do, which was to give Petraeus his head. Too late,

[teeker]

I like Bush the man, but as President he spent too much, never vetoed a bill and caved to the Democrats way too often. Besides his ignoring the enforcement of our borders (which he could have easily pushed for after 9/11), his biggest mistake in my opinion was not trying to pass a voter ID law after the hanging chads debacle (it would have been the perfect time to enact it, since it cost us both mentally and financially to go through all that recount nonsense). If it had passed then, you know Romney would have probably won this last election, despite his terribly-run campaign, and it would have been a Helluva lot easier for future Republican candidates to win in general thereafter (Romney won all but one state that had voter I.D. requirements).

[Impy]

Bush had weaker opponents and still barley beat them.