I liked Dubya but much (though not all) of the problems we face today as conservatives rest of his complete inability to get his message across make clear, sober case for what he was trying to do.
That being said, there were many errors of judgment, too.
Like you say, if he just tried halfheartedly, we’d be in a better position. He didn’t. That’s that.
Exactly. As a Texan, I loved him as governor, and had high hopes for him as president. In the end, I was sadly disappointed. Unfortunately, those failures, especially 2005-2008 were extremely damaging to conservatism as a cause.