Has Bush43 eclipsed Reagan in GOP esteem?

[Marcus Bryant]

Just wondering. Judging by some of the feelings for W among the GOP base, you'd think he was JC (not Jimmah) himself.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Dude I've been saying that they think bush is our lord jesus christ for months already...

[Marcus Bryant]

Yeah, but that's your position on most topics in here.

[whottt]

Reagan was better...not even close. But if W is able to clean up the Middle East all bets are off. I doubt it's going to be cleaned up by the end of W's term though.

[Marcus Bryant]

Well, this query is more about image than policy. Reagan was beloved by the base. Social conservatives loved Reagan, but looking at his life and career he definitely came across as more libertine than anything else, especially in comparison to the "born again" Bush43.

[whottt]

Well Reagan was an actor...even those that hated Regan's politics had a hard time actually disliking him, and his appeal crossed party lines like few Republicans...about the only thing people could rip him for was being old. It wasn't like there was big campaign comparing Reagan to Hitler or anything...and Reagan was very popular overseas. Reagan's impact on the Coldwar was due to a lot more than just dropping an economic A bomb on the Russians...he won over Gorbachev as a personal friend and turned him Pro-American. Regan was a great speaker and his acting skills served him and this country well(way better than they served Hollywood IMO).

W OTOH is arguably the least likebable President in US history with the absolute worst social skills. You have to look beyond personal feelings to evaluate W and I think it's something many(liberals) are just not able to do. It's just really easy to dislike W and believe the worst about him...and being a Silver Spoon doesn't help his cause. I think a couple of the other guys who lost the popular vote were among the most disliked ever as well..but I don't think they had W's weakness in the Social Skills area. But if you look real close you do see one thing that W and Reagan had in common...at least IMO...I don't have a doubt that both of these guys scare the living shit out our enemies...The one feeling that I got from both of these guys is that they truly love this country and will seriously fuck up anyone that hurts it.

[Marcus Bryant]

Well, the base seems to love W's personality as much as his politics.

[Marcus Bryant]

Bush is an interesting character in the sense that he is willing to commit to making some rather controversial and unpopular decisions. His father was like that, though the decisions Bush41 made were more apt to alienate his base, such as raising tax rates, supporting the ADA, etc...

[whottt]

I never really liked Bush 1...but he it was easy to vote for him over Dukakis. But I already knew I was going to vote for Clinton if he ran...I remember driving through Arkansas in the late 80 and noticing that the gas in Arkansas was about 30-40 cents cheaper per gallon than it was in Texas, and that state with absolutely nothing in it had one of the most booming economies in the US...I was pretty much sold on Clinton after that experience.

Base loyalists are always going to be in love with their candidate...especially if he is the incumbent. But Bush I got elected because he ran against Dukakis...the worst candidate in History IMO...Bush II got elected this time around because he ran against Kerry...a guy who seemed he was more concerned with kissing Europe's ass than protecting the country. It's hilarious to see this tool thinking that he's got any chance to win it in 08...if this guy couldn't beat a wounded President who didn't even win the popular vote, he's damn sure not going to beat any of the other serious contenders in 08...Hopefully the Democrats will realize that.

[Marcus Bryant]

The thing is, Bush43 has that Southern Baptist revivialist shit down. Bush41 was always a Northeastern liberal Republican at heart. It was like Chris Shays trying to be a redneck...or like John Kerry, for that matter.

The GOP base isn't so much the 'Don't Tread on Me' crowd anymore as it is the 'Praise the Lord' crowd. Those are the people who will go through a plate glass window for the party. That's also why American politics today are divided much more along social lines than economic ones. It's why you have a GOP president who is easily willing to push through the largest increase in an entitlement program in a generation.

The gain in that type of voter is well worth alienating voters like myself, who are much more concerned about economic and fiscal issues as well as who have an affinity for a more libertine attitude towards social ones.

[Vashner]

No American leader since Lincoln has been so loved and hated at the same time....

[Marcus Bryant]

If Bush didn't bring on so much hatred due to his social views, I really wonder what the response would have been to the Iraq invasion.

[Vashner]

It's not a popularity contest.. the minute you let it become that there is just a puppet system with no leadership..

If a leader has to worry about making people happy with every decision then that takes away a big human element to leadership.

It turns it into a west wing style spin machine trying to keep people happy..

That's not a true leaders job... to do what makes people happy.

We tried sitting on our asses in WWII and 40+ million people died..

9/11 was designed to NOT have a country or target to attack other than the empty hills of mars like Afganistan...

If someone had the Nad to take out Hitler early on in his building stages ....

Modern Islam if left unchecked and to aquire WMD's. Could rival any threat the 3rd Reich ever posed to free humanity.

You know.. some call Iraqi's "Sand Negro's.. with the Nigerian style of spelling.

.. I think Dr Martin Luther Kings vision should apply to middle east folk to..

The only other choice is isolationism (Kerry / Gore type of military use)..

[scott]

Well, the base seems to love W's personality as much as his politics.

I have observed a strong correlation between your point and Gun-Rack ownership.

...or, as T Park says, it's good to have a President who speaks like a normal man. He is a man of the people...

[boutons]

The bogus Iraq war, which will be lost later if not sooner, and feds total fuckup of Katrina (and who knows what else with 3 years to go) will destroy any pretensions to a legacy.

Apart from cutting taxes for the rich and corps (and there's more to come) which was and is obviously the only Repub priority is seeking office, he's done fuck all in any other areas.