In an Election Year, GOP Wary of Following Bush

“The bipartisan uprising in Congress in the face of a veto threat represented a singular defeat for Bush, who when it came to national security grew accustomed during his first five years in office to leading as he chose and having loyal lawmakers fall in line. Now, with his poll numbers in a political ditch, the port debacle has contributed to a perception of weakness that has liberated Republicans who once would never have dared cross Bush.”

It often strikes me as odd when pronouncements like these are made. Remember the GOP convention when it was pointed out how there are different groups within the Republican Party and the Dem convention with those they tried to hide? I think it’s odd that the white house did not see the uproar coming, but that is the way the cookie crumbles. With the exception of the Democrats (who will attack anything not theirs, which is everything), people that support the administration have pretty much stuck with its direction.
Personally I’m glad the “Dubai-acle” happened; it is an example of the people’s voice working. I didn’t like the deal, and many, many, many people did not as well. There may have been more than enough to convince many that the deal was good, but it certainly did not outweigh the main concern felt by many and that was the security risks. Were we right on that? I think so, but there are further concerns that need attending to here.


Not sticking with a president is always going to be an issue if poll numbers are low, especially with elections coming up. But if Republicans are smart, they won’t steer too far away from Bush because he does have a tendency to get things done.

“White House strategists reject such talk as exaggerated, pointing to other examples of Republican solidarity and predicting that the uproar over the ports will have faded long before anyone enters a voting booth in November.” Which certainly is not nothing.

And this is just wishful thinking on Democratic pollster, Stanley Greenberg’s, “who produced a survey this week suggesting Bush's public standing has been hurt by the port issue,” part when he said, ‘"I don't know how you put the genie back in the bottle," he said. "After five years of unwavering loyalty to the president, they've demonstrated they'll break with the president to save their own skins."’
Republican pollster, Tony Fabrizio said, “If the Democrats had been able to use this, it would have been horrible, horrible.” This is the underlying problem with the Dems. They’re too busy chasing fantasy to see anything clearly. They need to shape up if they ever intend to offer anything useful to this country again.