Posted on 08/27/2010 2:31:32 PM PDT by STARWISE
George W. Bush has been the presidential equivalent of a punching bag. Before he left office, he was vilified for the war in the Middle East, the credit crisis and the housing crisis. Democrats ran against his persona and policies in the 2008 election and successfully painted the Republican nominee for President, Arizona Sen. John McCain, as his Doppelganger.
He was radioactive, and even Republicans viewed him as such. But these days, though he's seemingly blamed for everything but bad weather by the left, Bush is making a comeback. As President Obama's approval numbers slide, people are starting to see the man they once laughed at and loathed isn't looking so bad.
Start with the economy. For all the finger-pointing backward, a Rasmussen survey released Aug. 3 shows that slightly more Americans, 48% of voters, now believe that Obama's policies are to blame for the dour economy than the 47% who fault Bush.
Handling of terrorism has also been a factor. Bush may have been stubborn at times, but when it came to hardheadedness on stopping radical suicide bombers in their tracks, it was welcomed - especially after Sept. 11.
Obama, on the other hand, has been slower to respond in many homeland security crises and not as stalwart. From the Times Square bomber to the Fort Hood shooter, to the Christmas Day underwear bomber (and Obama's inaccurate explanation that it was an "isolated incident"), these stumbles hurt the President's credibility and made many of us yearn for Bush's consistent decisiveness.
In fact, many on the left are oddly calling for Bush to weigh in on the Ground Zero mosque, hoping he can shed some wisdom and clarity, since Obama has provided us with exactly the opposite.
When it comes to Iraq, Bush took heat for the surge; however, the visual of troops pulling out of Iraq last week in many ways vindicated his approach. So much, in fact, that Obama is dedicating an entire speech on the subject after his Martha's Vineyard vacation.
It's an opportunity to take credit for a success in a war that he opposed and an exit strategy - the surge - that he voted against. Despite Obama's political posturing, or whether you disagree with the initial invasion or not, a perceived victory in Iraq is because of our troops - and Bush.
Of course, manmade disasters like 9/11 were one thing. Natural disasters were another. Bush's presidency took a turn for the worse after Hurricane Katrina.
He was impugned for his response and arguably never recovered. Until the gulf oil spill, and the bungling by the Obama administration of the response, many didn't believe the government and its leader could react so poorly. Apparently, it's all relative.
In early June, in the midst of the spill, 69% of those surveyed in an ABC News-Washington Post poll rated the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon leak negatively - a higher percentage than faulted the response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Rest @ link
** Ping!
Where the hell has this fool been?
They blamed him for everything but the Dutch Elm Blight...
Wasn’t there some sort of stupid moonbat conspiracy theory about Dick Cheney’s weather machine?
Ooooooooof ... it’s like getting kicked in the gut ...
Bush'43 did not apologize for the US to every nation he could get to. He did not 'bow' before foreign potentates, he did not dishonor our strong allies with menial gifts and great insults.
According to all the President's defenders, this was to erase the toxic view of the Bush Administration and allow a new start of global good feelings for all of those nagging problems created by Bush's mishandling of foreign relations. So now we have got Russia and China helping keep global peace, right? We send birthday greetings to the Islamic Republic of Iran and ignore the fact that they are staging stolen elections and shooting peaceful protestors in the streets.
I could go on but why bother, the Learner -in-Chief cannot get off of the Golf Course.
Do you know who the reporter is who brought up the McCarthy hearings during his Katrina reporting? I'm trying to find a link, because it was really bizarre.
I wonder what 0bama’s poll numbers would be if he got the same media treatment as Bush his approval rating would below 29% by now.
Not sure about BF, but what is BO’s hand doing!?
All presidents must surely have a certain amount of confidence, even arroance, in order to think they are capable of being the leader of the free world (or else they are stark raving mad!). But most also have times of humbleness and even moments where their eyes tear up and their voices crack in front of millions of people. Pres. George W Bush is such a man (as is his father), for all his faults; Obama has claimed humbleness in some speeches but doesn’t seem capable of actually feeling it. Of course, this is merely an impression from what he has shown in his words, deeds and demeanor.
bttt
“Not sure about BF, but what is BO’s hand doing!?”
Not a good couple ... like Bench and Fisk ... they are both catchers.
Thanks for the ping. I pray that history WILL be kind to him.
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