Bush Unites

5:57 pm EST September 19th, 2007 | Politics | 2 Comments

He’s bringing the country together in opposition to him.

In the polling world, President Bush has had a “leveling effect among subgroups,” as Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, put it. The tension between groups like married women and unmarried women is disappearing. That’s what happens when a president has a 30 percent job approval rating; there’s not much room for dramatic contrast.

…

Greg Ross, 47 years old, a computer consultant from Fayetteville, Ga., is typical of Republican men who are thinking of voting Democratic in 2008. He is upset about the war and the handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He recalls the Clinton years fondly, even though he did not vote for Bill Clinton. “The major reason I would vote Democrat is that the current administration in the White House is not listening to others and not really governing according to the will of the people,” Mr. Ross said. “Unless something major changes, which I don’t perceive happening, I’m voting Democrat.”

The next president, regardless of party but likely Democratic, will have to govern as the leader of us all and not his or her party’s base. That kind of leadership racks up short term political gain at the expense of national will, purpose, and cohesion. For all their faults on actual policy, this is something past Republican presidents like George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan did as well as Democrats like FDR and Clinton.

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2 Responses to “Bush Unites”

  1. zak822 says:
    September 20, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    “The next president, regardless of party but likely Democratic, will have to govern as the leader of us all and not his or her party’s base. That kind of leadership racks up short term political gain at the expense of national will, purpose, and cohesion.”

    This assumes that the President actually cares about national will, etc. We have seen no evidence that President Bush believes this, and no evidence that Congress is inclined to remind him of such things. We won’t even talk about the MSM’s role.

    I think, actually I fear, that suceeding Presidents will learn a terrible lesson from the Bush presidency. That they can do pretty much whatever they want to do, without fear of any consequences.

    Think about it.

    I’m not really anonymous. The website has apparently lost my sign-in info.

    Cordially Yours, zak822

  2. dr4lom says:
    September 20, 2007 at 5:10 pm

    Well I think that’s the reason for making a good showing at the polls in all elections for the next several years. The next President won’t feel they can do whatever they want if Congressional leaders are elected that actually hold the President responsible.
    I agree with you completely Oliver. It is time that all of our elected officials started to realize that they are servants of the public, not endowed with power for their own pocket.