We were there when GHWBush's lips moved--and he lied--about taxes; and when he simply gave up in the last 10 days of his last campaign. We also remember him as "rubbers" Bush, the Congressman from Planned Parenthood.
Now he tells Conservatives to make nice with Amnesty McCain?
Hillyer has thoughts, too.
So the elder Bush says he "gets a little annoyed" about conservative criticisms of McCain. Some of us still get annoyed about how the elder Bush betrayed all those who got over their doubts about him and supported him as Reagan's natural heir, only to find that he was anything but.
He's STILL "anything but." But he won't shut up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
While I believe the substance of George I's endorsement is spot on, I never, ever thought of him as Ronald Reagan's heir.
I covered his 1980 primary campaign in which he made conflicting statements in Madison and Springfield -- within one day of each other -- and how he attacked Reagan for "voodoo economics."
As a vice president he was pretty much inconsequential, which is perhaps why his vice president was, well, low-profile. (By contrast, Fritz Mondale was, in fact, very much a working vice president.)
But there's a huge difference between Reagan and Bush. Ronald Reagan historically surrounded himself with talented people and delegated. Bush favored frat brothers.
Big difference. A frat brother is a great guy for a car deal but not necessarily for heart surgery.
And if George I let Stormin' Norman do his job, we might not be in Iraq now.
Don't ever lump Bush in with Reagan. Not in the same league.
Well G.H. Bush and Bob Dole have a lot in common with McCain in that the choice on the Democrat side is much worse. The thing is on election day will they have another thing in common - losing to a Democrat. Bill Clinton was cast as the new Democrat promising change and Obama is much more his successor in this than Hillary is. Bill and Barack are both likeable and were able to run a campaign almost entirely about change and of course we had the man from hope and the man who talks about almost nothing but hope.
There are plenty of things to admire about G.H. Bush, but his Presidency for the most part isn't one of them. He is the example that the perfect resume and plenty of experience doesn't lead to a great president, but usually to being a moderate that is too quick to compromise.
He did give us C. Thomas on the court though.
Complain all you want (it is such a useful endeavor), but what is your alternative?
Post a Comment