Guess we disagree. Limbaugh, Hannity, and Ingraham were trying to get some accountability from Republicans. Frankly, the main reason I voted straight republican this year was judges...if Miers' nomination had gone through, I wouldn't even had that to motivate me.
GWB has been a tremendous FAILURE as a leader during the last 2 years.
On Iraq, he has failed to articulate a vision and failed to take charge. He has repeatedly said he'll give the Generals in the field whatever they ask for, and let them decide what troop levels are need. While the micromanaging of targets was an LBJ failure, the opposite is also a failure. The Commander-in-Chief is responsible for making decisions - not the SECDEF or the military.
Part of the disillusionment of independents was the feeling our Iraq policy was on autopilot to nowhere. GWB needs to be actively leading the effort, not just saying, "Stay the Course". Not when most folks don't know what the course is - as demonstrated by the ability of democrats to claim GWB's policy (phased withdrawal as Iraqi forces get up to speed) as their own. Every time a democrat stood up and 'suggested' that, Tony Snow and the local Republicans should have publicly thanked the democrat for supporting the President's plan!
Last summer, GWB should have made some personnel changes (possibly including Rumsfeld) and publicly expressed his unhappiness with the state of progress in Iraq. That would have been leadership.
He also should have fought the republicans in Congress, when needed. When the Speaker supported Jefferson against the FBI, GWB needed to jump in his chili with both boots. When Congress passed spending bills that were out of control, GWB should have vetoed them. He should have publicly called for reforms in earmarks, and made it clear he would veto bills that were riddled with them. Republicans came to be associated with big spending (by a 60/40 margin, voters felt republicans were bigger spenders than democrats). GWB COULD have changed that - although it is hard to do when he pushed for massive spending increases!
He also has shown a deaf ear. His nomination of Miers was just embarrassing, and his suggestion that the opposition to her was based on sexism obscene! He could have pushed for comprehensive immigration reform by insisting on securing the borders first, with the promise that, once secure, he would push for guest workers and possibly even amnesty. Instead, he wanted the whole enchilada, and suggested opposition was based on racism.
Two years ago, I was a strong Bush supporter - in spite of his prescription give-away, signing CFR and enlarging the Ed Department. And on his worst day, he is still 10 times better than JF Kerry.
But as a leader? He's failed.
Well, I almost totally disagree with you.
The things you are griping about are not lack of leadership, but lack of political conniving.
He just does not have the gene for dishonest conniving.
Take the border issue. Any rational person knows that some accommodation will eventually have to be made for at least a large portion of the illegals currently here.
I was hoping and praying that he would forget that long enough to get strict border enforcement passed and then, OF COURSE, we would have had to deal with that, and generally been willing to do so.
But he's just too blunt and honest. Too trusting of liars, maybe. But the best man we've had since Reagan and the best one we're likely to get for many years to come.
Maybe someday you will realize that.
My only complaint is you lumped the immigration debacle in with Harriet Miers. It deserves it's own large, large paragraph. Bush did "lead" on it, and to be fair, a fair number of Republicans went along, especially in the Senate. But he led in precisely the wrong direction.
This should have been the winning issue in this campaign, trumping all others, even "Iraq". Instead, the confusion and failure made the Republicans out as the Go-along/Get-along Party with a tin ear concerning what the public strongly demands. Not wants, demands! Over 80% want the Borders closed to illegals, now. It is killing our country and everybody knows it. Strongly solving it (and not in the favor of these foreign invaders) is overwhelmingly in the best interests of our country and yet the issue was been demagogued in the other direction and panned as a triviality.
Huge numbers of voters felt dissed and betrayed by Bush, the Republican Senate, the viciously lying MSM, and anti-American Democrats as they all gleefully sprung their elitist trap on the average, fed-up American who was bewildered that almost nobody (except Congress) bothered to pay attention to their anguish plight.