The Man Of Consequence: Why George W. Bush Still Matters

I have written over and over again, that the Democrats have things wrong. They are on the wrong side of the War on Terrorism, wrong on Immigration Reform, wrong on Social Security Reform, wrong about the Economy, wrong about Taxes, wrong about so many things. But the Democrats are correct, to some degree, about the fact that President George W. Bush matters, even in mid-term elections.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News took a poll of “right of center bloggers”, and asked them to select their top six choices from a list of purported reasons why the GOP is having difficulties this election. As always, John’s polls are informative, but I did not much like his list. A number of strong reasons – obvious to me at least – were not available as choices. As someone who lives near Sugar Land, I find it fitting to demand a write-in vote. The biggest single reason the Republicans are having difficulties this election, is because for some inane reason they started listening to the Democrats’ spin and abandoned the President. This plays right into an old strategy, but one which appears to still work – Divide and Conquer.

It’s simple, really – most Americans think about President Bush when they consider the Republican plan for how to handle Iraq, meet the threat from Terrorism, reform how taxes are assessed and collected, how we should choose federal judges and Supreme Court justices, and what cultures will be encouraged and protected in the United States. No other elected official comes close to such a complete alignment with a party position. No Democrat has established any sort of policy positions on the issues Americans repeatedly confirm they care about, and even the other leading Republicans only voice a part of the plan. President Bush is the Republican Party, so far as the people are concerned. Small wonder then, that the Democrats wanted to separate every Republican candidate from the President, because that is the one thing which would weaken Republicans more than anything else. No one is required to agree with the President on every issue, nor are you required to support him on every issue. But if you are a Republican, then you have to understand that President George W. Bush is your party’s voice and standard for all intents and purposes. The Democrats fear Dubya, and rightly so. And any Republican who plans on winning the fights which matter, will stand by their President.