Is Bush the Republican Carter?

[Onlooker]

I was a paid coordinator on Jimmy Carter's relection campaign (after volunteering for Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign). But, even so, I recognized that Carter was uninspiring, had no urban policy, was a Democratic hawk, and had a poor economic policy. Carter, from my viewpoint, was a good man on many issues (such as human rights and Middle East peace), but overall he was a lousy president who made Democratic ideas look weak and tired.

If you're bigoted, avaricious, or vengeful, Bush is a good man, but his policies are presenting conservative ideals in a way that is leading to security failures, economic problems, and worldwide instability. Just as Carter helped discredit the Democrats for many, many people, Bush is doing the same thing for the Republicans. In fact, he might actually do more harm to the Republicans than Carter did to the Democrats. If that's the case, the damage that Bush has done will linger for many years and we'll begin see a resurgence of Democratic ideals.

[panader0]

1. Please, You can't really compare them can you?

I mean ,Carter may have been ineffectual, but he was and is a good person. bush is evil, plain evil, oh yeah, and stupid.

[BattyDem]

4. Exactly.

Carter had good intentions - Bush doesn't.

[FARAFIELD]

19. NO WAY

Comparing the two is offensive actually. Bush never has even hinted that he cares about anyone but himself. Carter always exuded that he cared about what happened in the big picture (thus a Nobel Peace Prize) now unless they give a peace prize for eating pretzels, clearing brush and taking vacations our current prez is never even going to sniff one. Jimmy Carter was a fairly conservative Dem, but he meant well, but turned out to be a lousy president. Bush is a guy that just plain sucks, I mean really, he doesnt have a compelling life story, but rather is a richie that just made rich people richer. Jimmy Carter always said that it was his goal to get the hostages out all of them alive,when our own people were dying in NO and the gulf, the prez couldnt be bothered with it. That shows you the difference in the men. Carter would have been on the ground immediately.

[BattyDem]

2. He's worse.

Carter may have helped discredit the Democrats ... but Bush* is directly responsible for discrediting America and everything it's supposed to stand for. Our country will need DECADES to recover from what Bush has done! :-(

[European Socialist]

3. Bush even makes Raygun look good.

[liberal N proud]

5. I realize Carter was dud for a President but he was great compared to this

bu$h is destroying America, Carter never did that. Carter had a fair foreign policy, bu$h has one of destruction.

bu$h is the worst president of all time and if there are any comparisons, it would be with Nero or Hitler, but not Carter.
bu$h is Nixon and Raygun together on steroids, he is accomplishing everything they only dreamed about.

[mike_c]

6. he's the anti-Carter....

Jimmy's evil doppelganger.

[killbotfactory]

26. Exactly what I was thinking

Bush is a warmonger.
Carter was a peacemaker.

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. Carter

has been a wonderful former President and has continued to make significant contributions. Shrubbie will never even try.

[rubberducky]

8. Carter did no harm

and was probably one of the most gentle presidents ever. When you look at what the chimp has done well.......... what can you say.

[Zhade]

12. Well, not really. Look at Afghanistan, for example.

His administration wasn't all doves, you know.

[tnlefty]

9. I seem to remember Carter being the President who turned the

thermostats down in the White House and put on a sweater just like the rest of us. I also seem to remember that he gave income tax credits for those of us who tried to take advantage of solar power (Uncle Ronnie did away with those). Perhaps what you call weak and uninspiring was actually inspiring to some us to try to do what was better for the country at the time. That whole thermostat deal has never left me and I still try to conserve energy where I can.

Bush sits like he thinks he's a goddamned king on a throne - no sacrifices by him, nor most of his 'base'. Carter may not have been perfect, but at least he is a decent human being, which is why I think the rwing hates him so much.

Coming down from my soapbox now.

[AlinPA]

10. ????? Bush** is a stupid man. Carter is a brilliant man. No comparison

[SPKrazy]

11. That's Terribly Insulting To Carter

who is and was a great man and a great President

* is a terrible man, and a worse pResident

[unblock]

13. sorry, onlooker; no one here understands analogies

[SensibleAmerican]

14. No, Bush II is a two-term president, is a president at war ...

Had no major opposition to him intraparty in his re-election, appointed two Supreme Court justices ...

Bush II is not really comparable to anybody IMHO, save Reagan (and not in a good way).

[kentuck]

15. No sense of history....

Jimmy Carter took over for the criminally-impaired Nixon Administration. The country needed someone they could trust. It was no easy job finding the right person. Carter rode history into the White House. Before Carter's inflation of '78 and '79, we had Ford's WIN buttons (Whip Inflation Now) of '74 and '75. Carter inherited a very bad situation.

What did Bush inherit? Just the best economy since at least WWII. Surpluses as far as the eye could see. Peace and prosperity. And what did he do with it? I think it is wrong to compare a great President like Jimmy Carter with a moron like George W Bush. Just my opinion.

[johnaries]

22. Exactly! Carter wasn't incompetent, he inherited an impossible

mess! There's no telling what he could have accomplished if he had a chance with a second term. But I doubt any President could have done much better in the four years he had.

Although the mess Bush is leaving the next President is even worse than what Carter inherited.

I understand the point you're trying to make about his "Presidential Legacy", but I think many of the Democrats in Congress were to blame for people's disillusionment with Dems more so than Carter. The BIGGEST factor was the all-out smear campaign launched by Republicans.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. I think Jimmy Carter was a good man who became an average

president who later became a great man.

I think Bush was an underaverage man who became a terrible president who later became . . .

[SensibleAmerican]

23. 61% of Americans approve of Jimmy Carter

Carter was better than average

[WI_DEM]

27. though the historical ranking of his presidency is also rising

[sam sarrha]

17. Dumbass is a sociopath at best..he isnt worth half of one of jimmies turds

[NRaleighLiberal]

18. Jimmy Carter makes me proud. Chimpy makes me deathly ill....

[suston96]

20. Peace prize?

Has Bush won a Nobel Peace prize?

What a silly comparison.

[B Calm]

21. Jimmy Carter's economic plan didn't throw this country into this

much debt.

[WI_DEM]

24. Your thread really makes me mad. Carter did nothing to discredit

this country especially compared to Bush. Carter was ahead of his time and had a comprehensive energy policy that was working (Reagan dismantled it), broght peace to Egypt and Israel, Got the Panama Canal Treaty through, stood up for Human Rights, Formalized diplomatic relaionship with China, created the Dept of Energy and Education, Saved more land than any president before him due to the Alaskan Lands Bill. He got the Hostages home safely--the only reason it happened on Reagan's watch was the Iranians wanted to be vindictive. He did alot of other worthwhile things--can you write a list such as I have of accomplishments such as these by Bush? or both Bushes or even Reagan. His historical rating is rising. It's a shame Kennedy decided to run against Carter in 1980 instead of running in '76 or '84.

p.s.
he may not have inspired you but he inspired me to get active in politics as a junior high student in '76 and I was happy to work for him in 1980 as well.

p.s.s.
I've come up with a few more Carter Administration accomplishments:
Civil Service Reform
Signed International Covenant on Human Rights
Negotiated a Second SALT treaty with Soviets, but was withdrawn due to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but the limits were followed during the Carter administration.
Passed tough Ethics in Govt. legislation
defered porduction of enhanced radiation weapons.
Windfall Profits tax on big oil companies.
Superfund to clean up toxic waste dumps.

Was he perfect? No, I disagree with withdrawing from the Olympics in '80 as a response to the Soviet invasion and the attempted hostage rescue was flawed--but he had an impressive list of accomplishments. Even though he had trouble with Congress, he still passed more legislation he proposed since the early days of LBJ.

I think he had a wonderful record.

[Hekate]

25. wtf kind of question is that, really?

Jimmy Carter is a great human being who works for the betterment of humanity.

GWBush is slime.

Hekate