Posted on 12/12/2013 4:38:00 PM PST by kobald
..[B]y the time the Bush era was winding down, the whole administration, including the president, was stewed in terrible, Cheney-level disapproval ratings. And now, almost no one who played a significant role in that administration is anywhere to be found in electoral politics, beyond the tertiary orbits of Punch-and-Judy cable news and the remains of what used to be the conservative "think tank" circuit...
Unlike the Reagan administration, the first Bush administration and the Clinton administration, the George W. Bush presidency elevated precisely no one to the ranks of national leadership who wasn't there before. The 2008 Republican presidential primaries were like some odd eight-year cicada hatch in which the candidates went underground in 2000 and then birthed themselves after Bush and Cheney were gone, as if the intervening years had never happened...
The fascinating turmoil in the Republican Party since 2008 is not just a personnel problem--it's also ideological. If you were putting together a legacy to inspire the next generation of conservatives, you wouldn't pick the Bush administration's trailing ends of land wars, budget deficits, torture, a crusade against gay rights and a financial collapse to rival the Great Depression. The isolationism and libertarian iconography of the Ron Paul wing of the party really does appeal to young people more than Bush-Cheney Republicanism. Social conservatives really do feel backed into a corner and ready to fight against a country that is turning against them faster than most pollsters can keep up. There really is something ripe for renewal in Republicans' self-conception as fiscal conservatives, when the clear pattern is that budget deficits grow under Republicans and shrink under Democrats. The Republican Party is a churning swirl of conflicting ideological currents, and that's going to take some time to work out...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You have a much stronger stomach than I do. I didn’t even bother to read the article.
Hope you’re okay...lol!
But how do you know the poster is a liberal? I’ve posted plenty of articles critical of Bush and the Republican Party.
I think the n00b got schooled on posting a Madcow tread and ran of!!
He's against Tom Cotton for the race in Arkansas. All ya gotta do is read the posting history.
/johnny
So, Rach....How deep is the RAT bench these day, hmmmm?
That's more or less it. And at some point, the government will manufacture a war against some outside country in order to gin up "patriotism."
Meanwhile, the charade of voting becomes obvious if the two sides don't pretend to fight.
/johnny
Rachel Maddow, Rhodes Scholar. Bill Clinton, Rhodes Scholar.
SIGH ...
He sounded promising until he shilled for Big Government snooping.
50 posts in and you haven’t offered a single reply. I smell ozone.
/johnny
That's the facts.
/johnny
Welcome to Free Republic. And thanks for sharing Maddow’s insights.
The GOP failed to develop its bench for those eight years, leading to two election cycles with two weak candidates on each ticket.
John... sending you email about that roadblock last month I sent to Abbott’s people.
/johnny
So that is Bush’s failure?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.