Posted on 11/20/2008 1:40:22 PM PST by jmikes20
Over the last 8 years, did George W. Bush help or hurt our party? We did see 2 electoral wins, and the first majority win since his dad trounced Dukakis. He helped keep a Democrat out of the White House for 8 years, and stave off out and out John Kerry liberalism, who is probably more liberal than Barack Hussein Obama. however, we got trounced pretty badly on November 4, all across the board, even in Governor's mansions, where Dems managed to do well in 2002. The Dems ranks grew over the '90's, going from 43% of the vote steadily up to 52% of the vote now. He kept us from losing Appalachia, which was starting to go for Clinton stronger than his predecessors. (With the matter of Ross Perot, while most agree he took from conservatives, I'm starting to believe Clinton might still have won 1992, given Bush I's poor approvals in 1992, and if enough Perot voters would have stayed home without him, Bush would still have lost. Clinton did solidify CA, IL, MI, NJ, CT, VT, ME, DE, and PA securely into the Democrat column, even after Perot was gone. Perot was also an abortionist, anti-family, and protectionist, but none the less, may have took from our demographics). Will conservatism survive, now that the brand his been so tarnished by incompetence? Will people see the achievements once the Messiah Hussein sees Iraq succeed, and us come back? One thing President Bush did was to put marriage on the table, which may well be the death knell for the Dems if Prop 8 managed to pass in the most liberal Democrat of Democrat states, California. Bush also kept Texas from even reverting Dem, as Gore, Kerry, and Obama won fewer counties there than Clinton, who won some in northern Texas. Do you think George Bush will have helped our party, or hurt it?
He damn near killed the GOP.
By what measure is Kerry “probably more liberal” than Obama?
Overall, he hurt the GOP. At first he seemed to be doing well, but as time passed, he sold out Domestic policy to the Dems, turned his back on the platform and principles, and made Republicans unelectable. 7 years later and he still has done little to close the southern border with Mexico.
The GOP is dead to me.
Maybe so, but he was killing a patient that was already in the throes of death by suicide.
There is simply no explaining what we saw our Party did to itself and those of us who entrusted them with our vote and control of the game plan.
We lost Indiana and North Carolina.
He was popular enough among conservatives that we by and large were cajoled into just barely supporting him and his ilk (e.g. Tom DeLay, etc.) enough to keep them in the majority.
If instead of just limping along with quasi-conservatives we had given support to true conservatives, then we may have lost some of the previous battles, but we would more likely win the ultimate war with liberalism.
What is happening with the Republican Party now is similar to what is happening with the economy: both Republicans and Democrats did things to keep the bubble from bursting sooner than it did, but it burst anyway.
Unless and until Republicans get back to being sound managers of smaller governments then whatever bubble of approval they receive will soon pop.
The only recent Prez to escape flame is Ronaldus Magnus. The rest are traitors doncha' know?
The United States hads’t been attacked since 9-11.
He did appoint conservative judges and he’s done good with war on terror.
He’s way better than Gore or Kerry. Of course, I would have taken Gore or Kerry over Obama.
That having been said, he did not advance conservatism. Under his watch, Republicans became the caricature that the left always claimed we were. Ted Stevens, Mark Foley, Medicare, No Child Left Behind...
I realize much of this was not George W. Bush's fault-- but actually, it was. In that he could have stopped it. Or he could have advanced conservatism. He could have controlled spending.
But the point is he is a patriot, a true American-- and in comparison to Terrorist-Elect Obama-- a great man.
Emblematic of his attitude toward the GOP was his selection of his crony Mel Martinez to head up the RNC, which turned out to be the disaster we all predicted.
Screw Bush! I hope I never hear that name again come January.
why the hell did we nominate him in the first place? Because he had a machine? i would love to know why, was it because McLame was his only real opponent? In many senses, he was our own Bill Clinton, a man who could come off moderate to enough, a young, Southern Governor. We see where slickness takes us now.
If he had of helped their would have been no Obama.
It is plain and simple he did NOT adhere to tried and true conservative principles.
It's time for conservatives to realize that we are the RINOs. The big government hordes own the party and we just tag along because we got nowhere else to go.
I can agree with that- and I'll add a snippet I wrote elsewhere:
Like many who voted for the man twice, I went through stages of lukewarm support, enthusiast support, and finally “just wish he'd go away,” but...
Big “but.”
But I think shortly most of us will wish he were still in office, due to the imminent Obama Thugocracy”...
Is the Pope Catholic?
After 8 long years you are asking this question?
Where have you been?
But I predict that history will show that the Dims and the media were happy to hold US safety and security hostage and to teeter on the edge of throwing the country under the bus and thus force him to fecklessness in any number of areas. I think history will show, that is, that the libs were perfectly happy to cripple our fighting forces and our security efforts if it would get them more socialism.
I think Dubya will look better when the facts come out.
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