RSS 2.0 FeedGeorge Bush: The GOP’s Albatross
by Doug MataconisAccording to the latest MSNBC/Newsweek poll, George W. Bush has the worst approval rating of any President since Jimmy Carter, and he’s holding the entire GOP Presidential field back:
May 5, 2007 – It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir. The last president to be this unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28 percent approval in 1979. This remarkably low rating seems to be casting a dark shadow over the GOP’s chances for victory in ’08. The NEWSWEEK Poll finds each of the leading Democratic contenders beating the Republican frontrunners in head-to-head matchups.
Just as Carter’s downfall was the Iranian Hostage Crisis, it seems that the Iraq War, which remains increasingly unpopular among all segments of the public, is Bush’s downfall and he’s dragging the Republican Party down with him. Even William F. Buckley, Jr, the conservatives conservative, had this to say about the Administration’s Iraq policy and it’s impact on the party:
[B]eyond affirming executive supremacy in matters of war, what is George Bush going to do? It is simply untrue that we are making decisive progress in Iraq. The indicators rise and fall from day to day, week to week, month to month. In South Vietnam there was an organized enemy. There is clearly organization in the strikes by the terrorists against our forces and against the civil government in Iraq, but whereas in Vietnam we had Hanoi as the operative headquarters of the enemy, we have no equivalent of that in Iraq, and that is a matter of paralyzing importance. All those bombings, explosions, assassinations: we are driven to believe that they are, so to speak, spontaneous.
(…)
General Petraeus is a wonderfully commanding figure. But if the enemy is in the nature of a disease, he cannot win against it. Students of politics ask then the derivative question: How can the Republican party, headed by a president determined on a war he can’t see an end to, attract the support of a majority of the voters? General Petraeus, in his Pentagon briefing on April 26, reported persuasively that there has been progress, but cautioned, “I want to be very clear that there is vastly more work to be done across the board and in many areas, and again I note that we are really just getting started with the new effort.â€
The general makes it a point to steer away from the political implications of the struggle, but this cannot be done in the wider arena. There are grounds for wondering whether the Republican party will survive this dilemma.
Some will say that Buckley is being overly dramatic, and he probably is. The Iraq War may not bring about the end of the Republican Party as an organized entity, but it could very well force it into the same kind of permanent minority status that it saw in the aftermath of the Great Depression. From 1932 until 1952, not a single Republican was elected President and, even then, it wasn’t a GOP politician who won but a war hero.
Politically, though, the lesson is clear. Republican candidates will suffer at the poll to the extent they are associated with the policies of George W. Bush. Eventually, some enterprising, charismatic Republican somewhere is going to see an opportunity in that fact.
Yeah, I read Buckley’s piece last week. I agree, the GOP is in for rough times. In 2009, the GOP is going to wake up and find a democratic president, a solid democratic congress and roughly only 30% percent of the electorate who identifies with the Republicans. And we can all look forward to yet another round of gerrymandering as the party who gains absolute power attempts to entrench themselves in as a perpetual majority.
This will be good business for the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, who will be manning the hatches and counting the dollars as they rail against a democratic majority, but not for the GOP, who is making a serious run at becoming relatively extinct outside the south.
And I say this as a former stauch republican, albeit a libertarian republican. I’m not republican anymore. I tore up my Repub voter registration card and joined the Libertarian Party. And I will never vote again for a republican for president. They’ve lost me, and they’ve probably lost the entire libertarian wing of the party as well.
Comment by Kaligula — May 7, 2007 @ 7:03 amYou’re not republican if you support this administration. George Bush swore to protect the constitution and he’s used it to wipe his ass. No credible person can assert our actions have made America stronger or safer and to be honest.. Isn’t it time to get Osama bin Laden?
Comment by MarkD — May 7, 2007 @ 10:08 amI gotta vote Dem this time around because this President embarrasses me.
I am registered as “unaffiliated” in the state of Colorado and that’s because both parties have thoroughly alienated me over the last seven years. The Democrats because they’re “old school,” seem incapable of reaching 21st century Americans, and, at some point during the Clinton scandal (or perhaps before) they had their collective spine surgically removed and replaced with silicone gel. The Republicans because they have been so effective at coming across as thick-headed, hate-mongering, war-loving, naked emperors, hell-bent on looting our country’s and the rest of the world’s human and natural resources.
The pendulum will keep swinging. I, for one, will be jumping for joy when we vote for regime change in 2008. But I harbor no delusions that this victory will usher in an age of enlightened leadership. American culture and history (and I can say this because it is my culture and my history) won’t permit it.
Comment by Mike's View — May 7, 2007 @ 10:12 amThe present problem of the GOP goes back to the 2000 election. How on Earth could the republican voters ignore the track record of G.W.Bush? His entire “business” life and political “accomplishments” show only ONE result. FAILURE. These are the facts the voters must never forget again. And I must mention that the corporate backers of the presidential campaigns also need to re-examine their policies, regardless of the short term trillions of dollars, Bush made for them, during his reign
Comment by George — May 7, 2007 @ 10:16 amIf the elephants had any sense, they’d lead the charge to impeach.
Comment by Carola Von Hoffmannstahl — May 7, 2007 @ 10:18 amI would argue that the Republican party left me and that my changing affiliation was only a symptom. I was a Republican when they stood for limited government, fiscal responsibility and a hands off attitude. I still believe the wisest government governs the least and a hand up is better than a hand out and that includes farm subsidies and corporate bailouts besides welfare programs. Provide for the common defense, promote trade, butt out.
Sounds like my departure was a bit before yours. I bailed when the Republican party started courting the religious right and cynically fronting their legislative agenda. I’m not sure exactly when “conservative” became “religious conservative” but I consider myself the former. The two are seldom aligned.
Despite years of lies, mismanagement, corruption and incompetence the Republican leadership sticks to the same failed course and promotes the same failed policies. You’d think ‘06 would have been a wake up call, but apparently the message didn’t sink in. Perhaps the point will be made with more clarity in ‘08.
You deserve to lose, the same way the Democrats deserved to lose in ‘94. The Democrats failed to clean up their house and make substantive changes in the wake of that electoral defeat and paid the price. Now the Republicans are setting themselves up for a similar defeat in the next election. Unless you start standing the party leadership up against the wall…today…you’re not going to be able to salvage enough credibility for the next voting cycle.
Comment by Chris Dexter — May 7, 2007 @ 11:04 amIt’s fun listening to Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly and the rest of the Neocon Talk Show hosts frantically trying to explain this away.
Comment by J.C. Collins — May 7, 2007 @ 11:39 amThey are as pathetic as their idol.
The GOP have been their own worst nightmare. The same will go for a DNC lock on power (president, house, and senate control).
Comment by tkc — May 7, 2007 @ 4:52 pmFirst, I need to qualify a few things -
I did not vote for George W Bush.
I do not like most of the Bush policies.
I do respect Bush for a few things.
He stated, during the last election, that if he was elected, he would stay the course no matter what, no matter who opposed him. And despite the nation deciding against the war, he has kept his word in that regard.
I do agree, though, that it is high time Bush was out of office.
However:
Kaliqula
And I will never vote again for a republican for president. They’ve lost me, and they’ve probably lost the entire libertarian wing of the party as well.
Mark D
I gotta vote Dem this time around because this President embarrasses me.
These two statements actually make me sad. It points out that you focus on the party, not on the individual. It also seems, to me, that you’re not looking at individual platforms, which can be changed from party platforms, not to mention the fact that, in the case of Marks comment, voting Dem may be just as bad if you blindly vote, and do not consider the individual platforms.
Comment by Ted — May 7, 2007 @ 6:36 pmHillary Rodham Clinton and Barac Hussein Obama have no more chance of being elected president then my dog (and both have my dog’s qualifications). Back when I was a Democrat there were sensible people in the party, Sam Nunn, Henry “Scoop†Jackson, Sam Ervin, John Glenn etc. According to a recent Rasmussen poll 35% of Democrats believe George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance: 39% say he didn’t, and 26% aren’t sure. I have little hope for a party in which half of the people are delusional.
Comment by Pat — May 7, 2007 @ 7:51 pmTed:
Okay, If Ron Paul gets the GOP nomination, I’ll vote republican in the 2008 election.
Comment by Kaligula — May 8, 2007 @ 7:04 amModel Ryan…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
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