“This old man George is not the same Dubya we all remembered on 9/11 when he stood on the ruins of Twin Towers with a bullhorn.”
Nope, he’s the exact same man. Any politician in that situation would have done that with the bullhorn. Sure it’s iconic, but literally any political type (except Obama) could pull that off.
The real Bush though : Bush campaigned on a conservative, non-nation building platform. He spent his first term acting like he was mopping up Clinton mess, handling the aftermath of 9/11 at home, bombing Iraq, and subsequently kicking off the nation building he campaigned against. Then, right before the 2004 election, he went and expanded Medicare.
After he was re-elected, he tried to privatize social security for, what was it, 15 or 20 minutes? He gave up ... the elite Rs and Ds didn’t want that since it would mean that they’d have to admit that they spend that money the instant it arrives. He didn’t want to fight them since he more than likely privately agreed with them.
After that fiasco, he didn’t do a damn thing but pander to the left and let them walk all over him. Hurricane Katrina response was 100% the result of Democratic policy, yet most in this country blame Bush (and, by extension, conservatism) for anything and everything that went wrong there. The mayor (Nagin) and the governor at the time (I want to say Blanco ... Kathleen?) were 100% failures when it came to leadership, but Bush took all of the blame.
His ineffectiveness cost the Rs a sizable lead in the Senate and the House in 2006, and, eventually the Presidency to his buddy Obama in 2008. He was *that* close to locking out non-leftists from the White House forever.
Much like his dad blowing 90% approval ratings under a year before his re-election, Bush destroyed anything resembling political capital by the end of 2005 and dragged the conservative brand down with him. That gave us a clown like Obama.
If I’m honest, I believe both the father and the son intentionally tanked their Presidencies ... I don’t think they ever expected Bush’s coattails to be that long in 2004 ... they had to correct that problem. I also think his father pretty much handed the election to Clinton since he was his chosen “son” to kick off his vision of the “New World Order” (few know that they knew each other well before 1992).
I get that Ross Perot may have played a role in HW Bush’s loss, but you don’t squander a 90% approval rating in under 12 months no matter who the media backed unless you are doing it intentionally ... he was hellbent on losing since he knew a D would have an easier time getting globalist nonsense passed.
For what it’s worth, he campaigned as a “Compassionate Conservative”.