George W. Bush, the Republican Jimmy Carter

Marx once said "History repeats itself: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." As we are now reaching the twilight of the George W. Bush administration, an administration I (regrettably) supported not once, but twice, on the promise of less government, controlled spending, and lower taxes (and thrice burned--inflation has more than wiped out the tax cuts), I have come to a rather depressing conclusion: George W. Bush is the Republican Jimmy Carter.

Let's follow the historical comparison (at least as far as it can take us). Richard Nixon was a wildly popular president when he was first elected. He was elected and then re-elected in Electoral College landslides. So was Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon was a phenomenal diplomat and foreign policy President. So was Bill Clinton. Nixon's problem was his arrogance--so was Clinton's. And both Nixon and Clinton got themselves into scandals that more or less completely wounded them (and their successors) irrevocably. Both men regained popularity and likability after being out of office (though it has not taken Clinton as long as it took Nixon). Al Gore was the Democrat Gerald Ford--he stood by the scandal-ridden President and so calls for change in the name of "honest" government seemed to stick. Both men lost their attempts to win a Presidential election.

Enter Jimmy Carter. Affable Southern Governor, devout Christian, not the most charismatic or articulate speaker, and completely devoid of judgment and common sense during his presidency. He wrecked the economy with bad policy, perpetuated foreign policy disasters (especially in the Middle East), and was a laughing stock in the international community during his presidency. Nobody took him seriously. This will be the legacy of George W. Bush. Jimmy Carter's foreign policy was inept because he was too weak, George Bush's because he tried to be too strong.

(Oh...I forgot to mention...they both took a beautiful opportunity to rebuild their party after almost a decade of opposite party rule, and ruined it.)

Peggy Noonan wrote yesterday in the Wall Street Journal that George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party. I concur. But he did something worse--he contributed to the further destruction of America. He accomplished this killing of two birds with bad policy--on all fronts. As I reflect on his record of Keynsian economic policy, complete lack of courage or character on the nation's real fiscal crisis (the unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare), and a war policy that has befuddled strategists, tacticians, and pundits on both sides, I can only conclude that the man simply didn't have it in him to be President. He was elected twice as a lesser of two evils. These sorts of people rarely turn out to be great.

Now we face a national debt that is nearly double what it was just 8 years ago, we have a budget deficit equal to what the surplus was 8 years ago, the unfunded liability crisis has increased by almost 50%, and our educational system and national infrastructure have been all but ignored. Our foreign policy is in shambles, and our diplomatic or "soft" power is diminished to its lowest point since the Vietnam War.

George W. Bush ran as the Second Coming of Reagan, but he was not a political Christ, but rather a political Antichrist. He was not the Second Coming of Reagan, he was the Second Coming of Jimmy Carter. He betrayed the Conservative-Libertarian base that elected him, and worse, he destroyed the Republican Party's credibility on both economics and national security--just as Jimmy Carter did in the 1970s.

Fortunately for us, George W. Bush will not be on the Ballot in November. But he has left a tall order for the Republican nominee--run away from the last 8 years and try to convince America that the Republican Party is in fact not the party of George W. Bush. I do not think this is an achievable goal.

The silver lining for those who don't want a Democratic President is that the Democrats are going to nominate one of the two most unelectable (Obama for his lack of experience, Hillary *because* of her experience) candidates in modern history. John McCain *could* beat either of them, but it will be another 50-50 election--2000 all over again, with probably not one but ten Floridas.

The nation will continue to be divided, and Washington will continue to fiddle while America burns.

"This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
Not with a bang but a whimper."
-T.S. Eliot