Brian Beutler
Republicans and Democrats alike seem content to let the November elections hinge on a question the answer to which once seemed obvious to voters: Was the Bush era good for the country?
Though for most of President Obama's tenure Republicans were eager to run away from that question, they now
act as though the answer makes them bulletproof. With the economy still in crisis, and polls showing Republicans poised to pick up many seats this November, GOP leaders have found the nerve to explicitly argue that what the country needs is a return to the same policies that triggered country's woes in the first place.
"We need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminishing it," said NRCC chairman Pete Sessions on "Meet the Press" Sunday morning.
For Democrats, the comment was a gift -- one that they plan to use repeatedly between now and the fall.
"We could not have made the case any clearer than Pete Sessions did that Republicans only want to go back to the failed policies of President Bush," said DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer.
It's a
daring strategy for Republicans -- one which includes explicit arguments for Social Security cuts,
deregulation, and the
repeal of a broadly popular Wall Street reform bill. And it's one they hope they can ride to victory.
moreWhen Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made an appearance on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” yesterday, a host asked him whether Republicans plan to embrace the Bush legacy, and Cornyn suggested that they wholeheartedly would. He even claimed that former President Bush is
enjoying a revivalas the public feels “fondness” about his administration:
HOST: Last question. We learned this week that President Bush’s memoir is going to be available really in mid October … Is this a plus for your candidates to have President Bush’s administration regurgitated, discussed before election day? …
CORNYN: Look, I think President Bush’s stock is going up a lot since he left office…I think a lot of people are looking back with a little more — with more fondness on President Bush’s administration, and I think history will treat him well.
HOST: So the book will be a plus for your candidates?
CORNYN: You know, I haven’t read it, so I don’t know what’s gonna be in it. But it’s intriguing when you say it’s going to be candid.
Watch it:
<...>
Clearly, though, the American public is still sour on Bush’s record. A recent Time poll found that
71 percent blame Bush for the “balky economy,” versus 27 percent who blame President Obama. By a whopping 53-to-33 percent margin, Americans
favor Obama over Bush.
As for Cornyn’s claim that “history will treat” Bush “well,” the Siena Research Institute this month released
its latest poll of presidential scholars, who ranked Bush as
the worst president of the modern era and in the bottom five overall. Despite evidence like this, Cornyn is only the latest prominent conservative to engage in wishful thinking about Bush’s legacy, following the likes of Sen.
James Inhofe (R-OK), Bush’s former Attorney General
John Aschcroft, and
Karl Rove. (HT:
Taegan Goddard)
Are Republicans that clueless?
Updated to add:
GOP wants to go back to the good old days of George W. BushRep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
went on Meet the Press, and during a segment on the Bush presidency, said:
... we need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminish it.
:rofl: