For the past year, Republican presidential candidates have kept a distance from their politically hobbled leader, criticizing President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina, his immigration overhaul, his spending habits, his democracy promotion agenda and, at times, his leadership in Iraq. They wrapped themselves instead in the mantle of Ronald Reagan, often going through debates without mentioning the name of their incumbent president. Now comes former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney voicing something not heard before in the campaign -- a full-throated defense of the president. Ever since last weekend, when former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee published a scathing critique of what...
