Where are the Bush Democrats?

Get ready for Marxism. I am a business owner who works about 70 hours a week easily. If Obama does all the tax increases and such he says, I am going to lay off all my employees and close up shop. It is hard enough but why should I bust my tail so Obama can take it away and give it to the UN or some other non-producer? Screw it, this Atlas may Shrug? Why should I take any risks either? Apparently we can all work for the state now days.

McCain is a poor speaker, but it is his policies and lack of conservative principles over the last 8 years, and continuing, that hurt him the most. Despite what McCain would have people believe, he is not a Reagan conservative and when he talks the talk of conservatism on the campaign trail he lacks credibility because he has worked against Reaganesque policies for nearly a decade. I only believe him about his statist big government policies. That, I think, is the REAL John McCain.

To make matters worse, there are "MCCain Democrats". The problem is that they are disaffected Hillary Lefties.
Reagan's genius was bringing Democratts to our side on HIS terms.
I doubt that I will vote for McCain.
I may vote for Portman, Romney or Palin.
I am supporting actual "down ballot" Conservatives where ever I find them. Utah, Maryland and Florida for example...

The main reason that McCain cannot articulate conservatism is that he does not understand it and he is not a conservative. I believe that he is the better of two evils, but like Obama, he will pander to the LCD and increase handouts.

If some of the other Obama scandals come out, he may not get the nomination.
Consider this parody: Sen. Clinton may still have a chance. This is the lighter side of some very serious issues about Sen. Obama. Please explore my blog and the ones listed at the bottom of Senator McCain in a Time Rift!
Is John McCain Really Harry Potter?
http://zachjonesishome.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/mccain-harry-potter-lord-voldemort-obama-dark-magic-in-time-rift/

George Bush has not been his own worse enemy only because the MSM hates him more than they ever hated any dictator including Hitler. He could have survived the perpetual exaggerated lies the MSM create if he had wanted to be a leader. People learn to do what they believe they have to do and Bush did not believe he had to become a leader, so he did not. He views his role as the head of a government, not as a leader of people. He surrounds himself with people who share his management view of the function of the Presidency. We are all the poorer for this failing of both he and his father.

my sentiments exactly. Bush and Rove turned the Republican Party into toast. The Party isn't worth trying to salvage as McCain's nomination signifies. It's time for a new beginning and a new party.

Bush has definitely failed to keep the people involved in the War on Terror. A big part of that is the media's role in prentending that we are not even at war, but Bush has failed to bypass the press and appeal directly to the people. One reason is that he's been too successful. There have been no more successful domestic terrorist attacks. 99 percent of Americans haven't even had to sacrifice anything for the war effort, so they don't have a personal stake. My thought has always been that I wished Bush paid for the war on terror via new war bonds. That way, he not only takes away an issue from the terror-symp leftists, but he gives more people a way to be part of the war. War bonds were a big reason why in WW2 the average stateside citizen would say "we" when talking about our war effort. Now, too many people say "they".

I had come of age in the misery-indexed1970s firmly believing America's best days were behind us. Somehow, Ronald Reagan was able to reverse this widely-held belief and, in turn, restored my faith in America.

That was Reagan's greatest accomplishment.

But as far as his "conservative" domestic policies go, Reagan was truly a failure. Yes, he cut taxes, but that did not reduce the size or growth of Big Government. On the contrary, as the tax coffer's of Big Government grew, the Feds found new and more ways to reduce our freedom and liberty. Big Government just grew bigger and bigger all through Reagan's term as President.

Reagan was not God.

It is a sad day when conservative commentators like Kengor are reduced to pleading to Democrats, on their terms, to vote Republican. Conservatives don't need flowery words and somebody to lead 'em around by the nose. I could care less that Bush and McCain can't seem to communicate like a silver-tongue devil. I just want Washington to get the hell outta my way, for crying out loud! America's best days are out there ready for the pickin', folks.

After my last post, it also occurred to me that Bush is in many ways the American Churchill. He has been spectacularly successful in doing what needed to be done, and that something was supported overwhelmingly at the time. But after the public became weary of war, and felt a little safe, they turned against Churchill and now Bush. The difference is that when it happened to Churchill, there was more finality to his war than Bush has with his. Indeed, I expect Bush's guiding principle for the rest of this year will be to fix as much as he can to give the world a fighting chance in the war on terror after he is out of office, in case Obama wins. That's why Bush promoted Petraeus up to a position where Obama would have to have a MacArthur style firing to get rid of him. That's why we're trying to stabilize Iraq as much as possible as quickly as possible, in case the Empty Suit orders a quick withdrawal next year. And that's why we're nipping in the bud the Taliban's effort to start a new war in Afghanistan. It's probably also why Bush took such an extreme step in dealing with North Korea the way he has. He's taking chances to try and fix the situation before Obama comes in and really ruins it for the entire world.

I'm disgusted by how many on our side are so quick to throw GWB under the bus. Other than MedicareD and the Shamnesty stuff, I really can't see how he was such a horrible guy worthy of loathing. No leadership? I dare say that he took more bull over the WoT from congress, from the court, from the international and local media, and from within his own party (including mccain, graham, voinovich, hagel, chafee, snowe, etc) push polls showing him in the low 20s and endless harsh attacks as "evil" an "idiot", he "betrayed" our country, and so on. Reminds me of what Rush said a while back... Conservatives are very politcally selfish -- the left works together the pro-abort people work with the open borders crowd and are supported by the unions. Conservatives relish and are proud when they say 'screw you mitt romney or rudy -- we know you are good on some but you are bad on X, so we will fight against you', which led us to McCain. Mark my words there will be a day quite soon when you purists who are are so quick to demand 'all or nothing' will be yearning for someone as conservative and steadfast as GWB was in the white house.

Unlike Bill Clinton, George Bush has been a very busy man. Bush has never been much of a self promoter. He just quietly goes about doing what needs to be done while the most outrageous lies and things are said about him. The Republican Party is in the fix it is in because of the Republican party. After the 2004 election, the Rebulicans seemd to believe that they didn't have to support Bush any more-hello, Arlen Spector. They went about trying to be democrat lite. They had a historic opportunity to accomplish many things and they blew it. Can we say "shared" power-what a crock! When did the democrats ever "share" power with the Rebublicans? McCain and the gang of 14, power sharing, agreeing to remove the Speaker of the House if he was under inditment, McCain and supposed torture -all these are self inflicted wounds by the Republican Party not President Bush. The Rebulicans should be eating the democrates lunch rights now. This gas crisis has been in the making since the 70's-this has put the nation at risk. Where is the push back, where is the bull horn? Stop being nice and play hard ball.

Bush' legacy will not be remembered until years from now - and then only because the comiong Empty Suit Obama has squandered his popularity because he never dared to stand by his promises! GWB may have been a clumsy speaker, but he has mostly stood his ground when that ground had been defined!
A President is not a clintonian figure who wants to be loved, but rather respected - and sometimes feared!
Fred Barnes and Ronald Kessler are to be commended for their insight in the enigmatic Texan, now reviled because he has outgrown his own party(sic!) Mr Bush will be respected over again when his memoirs are published and he can express himself in a written medium since phony politicking never was his game!!

Mr. Kengor, I am not sure we are living on the same planet. There are plenty of Bush Democrats. My in-laws, who are almost 90 and have never voted for a Republican presidential candidate in their lives, are backing McCain as are many of their Democrat friends. There are scores of anti-Obama groups all over the net, most of them run by disgruntled Democrats. A good example is Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain www.hcsfjm.com, which has had more than 3 million hits in the past month and plans to place an ad in the Chicago Suntimes soon. There are many Bush Dems among Larry Johnson's following (noquarterusa.net) and at savagepolitics.com, which has a huge list of Obama lies. I'm not sure but I think the guy behind the comprehensive obamawtf.blogspot.com may be a Democrat.

There is a network of all of these disaffected Democrats at www.nobamanetwork.com. I hope it gives you some optimism.

Thanks for the article.

Nobama,

Given that many domains purportedly started by "disaffected democrats" were in fact registered by the Republican National Committee, what makes you certain that hcsfjm.com is an exception?

I personally think that GWB was the greatest president we could've asked for in 2000. I personally believe that If I could have Bush a 3rd term, many in this country would be more comfortable with it. It'd be better than a McCain Presidency (certainly better than an Obama Presidency). Call me crazy, but GWB was a great man. I'll miss him.

That said, whoever is taking the knives out of his back isn't getting paid near enough. He's been betrayed by so many close associates, nipped at by the msm, had many horrible baseless accusations levelled against him, I'm surprised he's still alive. I've seen pictures of him before and after and I can see the years on his furrow.

People seem to have forgotten the unrelenting campaign that hard core Dems have waged to delegitimize Bush that started even before the votes were counted in 2000. With a complicit Main Stream Media, they have brainwashed the American people into believing all is wrong with the USA, and Bush is to blame for everything (including, it turns out, bad weather). This was perceived to be somewhat unseemly immediately after 911, but the public has been desensitized to the point that no expression of Bush hatred is excessive. Commentators have called this Bush Derangement Syndrome: the apparently contradictory belief of the hard left that they have once again been duped by the World's Stupidest Doofus. Can this phenomenon be explained only by the charisma drop off in GOP leadership? It was huge, replacing Reagan and Newt with Bush and Hastert.

I just donated to Hillary Clinton supporters for John McCain...a small amount for the sake of the country...I hope the coalition of conservatives, independents, and centrist Democrats can defeat Obama come November...Kiana

I was born in 1940, G W Bush may, in fact, be the most significant President in my lifetime - can he communicate Hell NO!

You know, I'm not really interested in being inspired by anyone in government. All I ask is that they govern competently and in a manner consistent with the Constitution and put the will of the people who elect them above their own interests and ambitions. It doesn't seem to be asking too much, but apparently it is. Which perhaps is why the ratings for all three branches of the government are in the toilet.

You want inspiration? Look no farther than the no there there candidate. He's inspiring people all over the place. To do what exactly beyond sending him money over the Internet and carrying his water in blog comment sections I don't know, but his supporters never stop yapping about what an inspiration he is. John Kennedy was said to have been an inspirational leader, but what came of it really? Okay, the Peace Corp. Big whoop.

And the great Ronald Reagan didn't exactly inspire that wall down. No, he did all the hard work necessary to insure that there could be no alternative to that wall coming down. Now, he may have inspired a generation of conservatives to stand up and be counted, but the jury's still out on that particular legacy. I mean, look where we are a scant 20 years later. Reagan Day Dinners? Please. Those Republicans would do far more honor to the man by embracing his principles which they don't seem to be doing in any ostensible way.

Don't dare lay the demise of the Republican party at the feet of George W. Bush. Except for some post-911 sensibilities, he's still the same man who campaigned in 2000. There was no pretense of being anything other than what he was then and there isn't any now. You folks, for instance, who professed shock and disappointment at his position on immigration a few years ago apparently weren't paying attention way back when.

No, if it's blame you're itching to assign, you need to look farther down the food chain. Bush didn't lose Congress in '06; Congress lost Congress in '06. Republicans should not make the same mistake as Democrats who think it was the war or that voters turned their backs on conservatism when, in fact, their candidates who won in Republican districts did so by convincing voters they were more conservative than the Republicans they replaced. Bush Derangement Syndrome is a serious disorder and it's not just the loony left that's succumbed to it.

I, too, will miss George Bush and I, too, would vote for him again despite all our many differences. I believe he will leave behind a Middle East changed for the better just as Reagan left the European continent changed for the better. In 2000, Time Magazine put Reagan on its millennium list of influential people (right up there with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln). Could be that George W. Bush makes the next list. Wouldn't surprise me. Not at all.

The "Reagan Democrats" never really became Republicans. They split their vote in presidential elections, voting down ballot for Democrats while supporting Reagan and Bush 41. If they had become Republicans over that time, Clinton never would have won in 1992. The "Reagan Democrats" were attracted to the DLC, which appeared to offer them what they had been looking for all along: Democrats who believed in a strong defense and limited domestic spending. Clinton took up their cause and it gave him enough votes to put him over the top. Of course the end of the Cold War didn't hurt. People felt they could gamble on a Democrat since Communism was a much-reduced threat.
As for Bush 43, he squandered his political capital through what appeared to be an almost mindless pursuit of globalization and what can only have been the Rove policy of pulling off standard Democrat voters, among them the elderly and Hispanics, beginning in 2003. Like Clinton, his efforts to guarantee his own reelection only harmed those who had supported him in the first place. He gave us the Medicare drug program and an impetus toward amnesty for illegal immigrants. He drove many of us from the GOP. Conservative and Republican are no longer synonymous. John McCain is Exhibit A.

Bush's silence in the face of withering criticism from his enemies eventually convinced the public that they must be right. The ridiculous assignment of blame for the weather tagged on Bush after Katrina went unchallenged. Every time Bush would reach out to the Democrats he would get stabbed in the back, yet he kept on reaching. Instead of taking care of the 51% who voted for him, he tried to reach out to the 49% who hated his guts (e.g. nominating Harriet Myers). There was no potential for "Bush Democrats" in the atmosphere of hate whipped up by the Mediacrats. He should have stuck to his base. I think at this point he has internalized these attacks and is a beaten man, ready to sign the Kyoto treaty and socialize medicine. You have to be willing to fight for your principles; there can be no compromising with the vicious Left.

For me, the defining moment of the Bush-43 Presidency came with Rep. John Murtha's Haditha meltdown.

When Murtha started sliming the US troops and began accusing them (falsely, as it turned out) of being guilty of cold-blooded war crimes, the Bush Administration should have thundered back that Murtha was demonizing millions of decent, patriotic troops and that he should wait until the accused soldiers had their day in court.

But instead the Bush Administration came back with a lame and whining response: "We are not questioning Representative Murtha's patriotism." That is exactly what they should have done - dealt with the problem immediately and stared Murtha's treason down. Instead, they tried to boot the problem down the road hoping it would fade away. That opened the floodgates to the Democrats' wildly successful mantra of "Don't question our patriotism - we will question yours instead." Soon Democrats and the MSM began circulating one falsehood after another - the Bush Administration had "cooked the books" to justify the Iraq War, there was a vendetta against Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, that Iraq was an unwinnable civil war and we needed to withdraw immediately, that were less safe than before 9/11 - the list goes on and on. All with little or no protest from Bush. Instead, he maintained a bizarre silence that made him look guilty even when he was innocent.

I have no sympathy for Bush, whose political cowardice has sealed his place in history. Even if Iraq turns into a democracy (as it appears to be doing), Bush will get no credit - and it will be his own fault. The most dangerous political enemy Bush faces is not the MSM nor Democrats - it is himself. His presidency is in ruins because he would not fight against the lies and smears of the MSM and Democrats when they were directed against the US troops and the Iraq War. I cannot have any respect for the man after that.

Great thought provoking article and posts. I have read Mr. Kengor's books and just about any Reagan book around. I've also read all the Bush books, even the ones on Laura and Barbara. Reagan was a unique individual with a unique background. His years as an actor and then as a traveling PR rep for GE plus his radio lunchtime talks gave him years of "getting to know, understand, write, and speak conservativism." Reagan had many years in which to think through, read, and discuss with others in many different forums the reasoning behind conservative ideas. That was before he became a politician, but also why he was tapped to become a potential governor. Reagan knew what needed to be done before he became governor based on conservative principles as well as when he became president. He had teams ready to start in on their goals prior to walking into the governor's mansion and the White House. Now compare that to Bush 41 and 43. Good men both of them. I don't always agree with everything, but I totally support GWB's effort to do what he thinks is best. It's not always what I believe is best, however, I will not withdraw my prayers and support for him. I believe we are suffering from a lack of leadership because our recent presidents have been raised as politicians instead of just being raised as an American. I don't know if that makes sense. Reagan had time to mature as a person, a thinker prior to becoming a politician. He read all the great books that commented on history and all that plus his life experiences shaped him to step into the role of a politician and a leader for conservative thinking whereas men today are raised to be a politician, like Obama who wanted to be president when he was in kindergarten, or at least in the political world, like GWB. Great thinkers, speakers, and writers for conservative thought are out there. They just may not want to be destroyed personally and so choose not be a part of the political world. We'll have others like Reagan. They won't be exactly him, but conservative thought and principles are eternal. They work everytime they're tried, if attempted correctly. Perhaps Jindal or even McClintock. Who knows. In the meantime, we're going to have to grin and bear it and maybe hold our noses as we do what's best for our troops who are laying down their lives for you and me.

Reagan had Democratic sympathizers and Dem backers because he was strong on national security. Dubya is weak on nat-sec.

An example: OBL and the rest of AQ's Senior Leadership have a safe haven in Afghanistan (a failed state), where they operate so freely that they can still produce hateful videotapes. Dubya's record on national security is so downright pathetic that he recently had to dispatch General Michael Hayden to defend him. Hayden falsely claimed that AQ is 'on the run'. The truth is that AQ is now stronger than ever before, having a safe haven in Afghanistan, a second one in Pakistan, and now working on nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. Dubya promised to capture OBL and Ayman al-Zawahiri. And here we are, 6 years after 9/11, and both of these guys are STILL at large.

Bush will step down as one of the worst US presidents ever. A pathetic amateur who never deserved to be elected in the first place. If the US had elected McCain 8 years ago instead of Bush, OBL and Ayman al-Zawahiri would've been 6 feet below the ground now.

Dubya has also failed to rally America's allies to Afghanistan. There are, and for the most of the Bush Presidency, there have been pro-American governments in Britain, Italy, Poland, the CR, the Baltic states, Romania, Australia, Denmark, Holland, etc. But the Bush administration has not attracted them. So America continues to operate like Rambo in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Wow, it didn't take me long to track yet another scandal: click my name.

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Dubya merely looked down on the residents of that city from the window of his extravagant, luxurious jumbo jet as he flew from one of his luxurious residences to another.

This time, not only has FEMA failed YET AGAIN, not only has Dubya failed YET AGAIN, but also he hasn't even bothered to do a fly-past above the Midwest. The residents of that region won't get to meet their president, he's thousands of miles away in his luxurious residence in DC. The US military, the Corps of Engineers and private orgs will certainly help the flood victims soon. But Midwesterners won't get to meet their own president.

No wonder Dubya has worser end-of-term ratings than any US president ever. Even Nixon was more popular on the day he left office. Even Carter, disgraced by the Iranian hostage crisis, had better ratings than Dubya has now on the day Carter left office.

Why doesn't the President care about these people? Isn't it the duty of the government to protect its own citizens?

"Why doesn't the President care about these people? Isn't it the duty of the government to protect its own citizens?"

Why is caring defined as meet and greet? How will Bush meeting some people protect them from anything? Do you want a president who will feel your pain or someone who will work for you? The president isn't there to protect me from the hazards of everyday life.
We live in a republic. The people that should be on the scene are state and local officials and members of Congress. Let's stop expecting the president to be everyone's nanny.
Everything today is symbolic. It's so symbolic it's fake. There's no there there.

Sure, whatever. Continue to defend your president whom you will NEVER get to see except on TV, who doesn't care about you, who will never visit you when you're struck by a disaster.

Ditto's a million times over Kyda Sylvester. I can't talk for other Americans but I can speak for myself and the Republican Congress lost me when they fell in with the Democrats.

As for President Bush he's not perfect but close enough he did what he thought was best and that is a true leader.