http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-blame-bush-era-may-be-at-an-end/
“But over the past year, polling data has begun to suggest that Bush is no longer quite the liability he once was for the GOP, and that most Americans no longer see the current economy as something Obama inherited.”
“Since April, Bush’s favorable rating has averaged 49.3”
History will not be kind to Obama.
“But over the past year, polling data has begun to suggest that Bush is no longer quite the liability he once was for the GOP, and that most Americans no longer see the current economy as something Obama inherited.”
If the GOP had any concept of public relations, George W. Bush would have been on a “motivational” public speaking tour for the past six months and it would have lasted through the election. This tour would not have been associated at all with the Republican Party and it would have had a non-partisan positive message about rebuilding America through less regulation, better education, family values, encouraging small business and entrepreneurs, American exceptionalism and patriotism, etc. He’d have been speaking to chambers of commerces, county fairs, and other places where the public could hear him speak and local media would cover. The purpose would be to rehabilitate his public image by letting the American people see him as a decent human being who cares about them and the country.
Call this tour the “American Heros Tour”. Take along some real present day American heroes to give short speeches with him — injured veterans of recent wars, entrepreneurs who sacrificed and created businesses that employed hundreds or thousands, teachers, successful legal immigrants, and select religious leaders. Talk about the good in America, people are tired of hearing only bad. Demonstrate to the audience that the USA is a good nation with good people.
Let the people see Bush as a decent, warm, human being instead of the image defined by the media would go long way. By rehabilitating his image, Bush would take one of the political millstones off the neck of every Republican candidate, thereby neutralizing a key weapon (Bush bashing) in the Democrat attack machine.
Unfortunately the GOP has no viable communication strategy.