Ten, I agree that Obama is a role model for minorities. But I think you'd agree his ideology is bankrupt and his administrative skills are limited, even after 2 yrs of OTJ training.
I don't think you can overcome a bankrupt ideology with excellent administrative skills, anyway. Which makes me wonder how Dean is any better than Obama? In fact, I would be concerned that he would do an even better job of implementing his far left ideology than Obama has (after all, Obama has failed in this respect, even though he tried like hell).
As to Bush, if you look at the key elements of his presidency, he was by any measure a huge success --
a) Immediately after 9/11, practically everyone thought we would be hit again. We were not, and there is little doubt it is because of GWB's actions;
b) Domestically --
i) He made a valiant effort at fixing SS, and had Congress gone along with him there is little doubt we'd be in a far better place today than then;
ii) The prescription drug program, while a significant expenditure, DID accomplish getting seniors medicated in an astonishingly cost-effective manner;
iii) The handling of Katrina at the federal level has been proven to be exactly as it should have been -- the failures were state and local, and Bush respected the state's authority to f*ck things up if they chose to do so (he has, of course, since said he would have forced the federal government on the state if he had a "do-over", but that WOULD have been a mistake).
iv) He saved the economy with TARP.
At the same time, while you may disagree with the Iraq War, his strong spine allowed him to take a war that the Left had declared as "lost" and turn it into something that clearly has had an important positive influence on current events in the region (and there is more to come).
I can see how people who disagree with Iraq can complain, but if the invasion was wrong, it was far less wrong than the invasion of Libya which has substantially less national security consequences for us (I happen to agree with Libya, as well -- but I don't see how anyone can argue FOR Libya and AGAINST the removal of Saddam). |
