Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Key to GOP Victory '06, Tip #1: Bush is No Failure


As Republicans head into their toughest congressional election in 12 years, nervous incumbents have decided to agree with the leftist portrait of the president as a complete failure. President Bush has been remanded to the corner of the political sphere like a crazy uncle at Thanksgiving. Surrendered to his enemies, Bush's antagonist biographers have gleefully judged Iraq, the War on Terrorism, and all policies he championed as unpleasant remnants of a fast-fading nightmare. Accepting, not to mention endorsing this rubbish, is an unfortunate and damning strategy for Republicans. To agree with Rolling Stone and the rest of the liberal cabal that Bush is one of the nation's great failures is to forsake the truth of what has been accomplished over the course of 6 years.

As president-elect, George W. Bush inherited a country without focus. While the 90s saw great economic prosperity, President Clinton undertook little preventative maintenance on the American homestead. By January 2001, the American economy was already grinding to a halt, the seeds of corporate greed were already sown, and Al-Qaeda was already concluding its planning for the 9/11 attack, having been buoyed by years of lax scrutiny. George W. Bush inherited a weakening America, but unlike his predacessor, chose to act boldly. Unfortunately, as with any neglected property, costs are augmented by long periods of disrepair. The recession, 9/11 attack, and collapse of several major corporations represented the price of complacency in a changing world. Rather than redefine America's place in the global economy or in world security, Clinton was busy tinkering with the definitions of "is" and "sexual conduct."

Circumstances forced President Bush to confront more than any American leader had been compelled to shoulder since FDR simultaneously fought depression and fascism. Nevertheless, the country's 43rd head of state displayed determined and inspired vision. He insisted on economic strategies that would grow the American economy and market. He sought to transform a judiciary astray and an educational system broken. Most importantly, Bush will be remembered as the first western leader to fully appreciate and respond to the threat of Islamic fascism. He acted quickly and decisively to neutralize the Taliban and put terrorists and their supporters on the defensive. Yet, the difficulty of the job at hand has disarmed perspective. FDR's struggle to restore the American economy and the longevity of western democracy was not realized for twenty years long after his death. 5 years into the War on Terrorism, Americans have chosen to assume the worst about Bush and his legacy. Conservatives, typically indignant over government expansion and spending, have abandoned the President to the cold ravages of a history written by one, hostile side of the ideological spectrum. A roaring economy and no major attacks since 2001 have done little to earn Bush respect among his contemporaries.

Certainly, Bush has made mistakes that have served to damage his position. But worst president ever? A complete failure? Moronic wannabe leader of a weakened state? Hardly. History will record that President Bush was a good man and president who, at worst, confronted enormous, perilous challenges with great vision and less-great strategies. Now, when we stand on the brink of Americans choosing to go back to a pre-1994 mode of government, one that gave birth to the dangers of the post-9/11 world, is there really any doubt that President Bush has done much right? And if America is better for confronting terrorism head-on when his Democratic opponents refused to acknowledge a defined threat, how can we honestly believe that electoral victory is contingent on being complicit to a sad and dangerous lie about our president?

I'm not suggesting that 8x10 glossies with Bush, plastered on prime time TV ads, is a wise strategy for endangered Republicans. My contention is best articulated as a plea for Republicans to remember that he who bangs the table loudest defines political reality. If the GOP accepts the liberal judgement of Bush and the past 5 years as gospel, then what sane citizen would vote for term extensions? Iraqi quagmires and economic morasses are not the ingredients for electoral stability. Thus, the key to victory in November is a firm, united, and powerful renunciation of liberal myths about American success over recession, terrorism, and pessimism in a new and uncertain epoch of U.S. history. These United States are safer, wealthier, and stronger for Republican leadership, representing an outcome less certain under increasingly loony Al Gore or perpetually unimpressive John Kerry. For campaigning GOPers to accept a version of history that accepts anything less than the triumphs of the Bush years is to seal their doom.

*picture by Ken Hendrickson... click picture for link to site

---------------------------------------------------------------
News


-Santorum pulls within single digits of his opponent in the PA Senate race- after a great ad-blitz discussing positive accomplishments. Keep the faith!

-Bill Clinton hates being 60. Too many jokes are coming to mind.

-Dem Senate hopeful in MD promises to cure cancer. Why didn't we think of that?

2 comments:

R. Chase said...

You're right on a lot of things. Bush has definately had his successes ignored and his mistakes overblown

Anonymous said...

Having a president on vacation more than the he is in the White House, having a President who hasn't created nearly enough jobs in this "booming economy," having a President who has no direction overseas as we loose more soldiers is NOT the best thing. You highly over glorify Bush, especially claiming that there haven't been any terrorist attacks since 2001. Thats giving him way too much credit. Why not give Clinton credit for not having any like 9/11? You say he's the reason why we had the terrorist attacks, but he was busy rebuilding our country, not worrying about someone who tried to attack his daddy.