Bush's second term was a spectacular disaster, especially for the Republican party. The party went from what might have been its strongest position in 50 or more years after the 2004 election, to maybe its weakest position ever after the 2008 election.
The more people examine his second term, and the policies they pushed, the more condemning it will become. Bush apologists have also said here often that he always told us what his plans were re: illegal aliens were. 100% untrue. During a 2004 debate with Kerry, Kerry supported amnesty and Bush opposed amnesty, said we couldn't reward illegal behavior, etc.
They also like to brag about his SCOTUS choices, conveniently forgetting that his real choices were Alberto Gonzales and Harriet Miers.
I wondered for a time why the Bush admin. and the party didn't clearly lay out what caused the sub prime crisis and financial crisis and make it a constant campaign issue. I knew part of the reason, but I guess they knew they had contributed far too much to the crisis themselves to be credible, even though the Dems were several time more responsible over three decades.
From the third Bush/Kerry debate:
Now, it's very important for our citizens to also know that I don't believe we ought to have amnesty. I don't think we ought to reward illegal behavior. There are plenty of people standing in line to become a citizen, and we ought not to crowd these people ahead of them in line. If they want to become a citizen, they can stand in line, too. And here's where my opponent and I differ. In September 2003, he supported amnesty for illegal aliens.
In that 2004 debate, W used the weasel words to lie, before the public even knew the double, lying meaning of "amnesty" and "get in line", etc.:
Great research, Thanks! I didnt even remember that!