Analysis: Bush Unwelcome on the Trail

[Ghost in the Machine]

Analysis: Bush Unwelcome on the Trail
Published: 9/23/07, 1:25 PM EDT
By LIZ SIDOTI

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) - Republican presidential candidates can't be any more clear: President Bush isn't welcome on the campaign trail.

Competing to succeed him, top GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain barely utter Bush's name. They essentially ignore the lame-duck president, or give him only passing credit, as they rail against the status quo and promise to fix problems he hasn't solved.

"We all know Americans want change," said McCain, an Arizona senator, explaining the aversion to aligning with Bush. "I give him credit for a number of things but I think the fact is Americans are turning the page, including our Republican primary voters."

The candidates are walking a fine line. They are trying to tap into the deep discontent those voters feel about the state of the country without alienating any who hold Bush in high regard. At the same time, they have to counter the Democrats' powerful arguments for a new direction.

How candidates handle the 800-pound elephant in the room now could have implications beyond the primary. Privately, Republican strategists agree their nominee will lose next fall if the general election is a referendum on Bush. They say GOP candidates are wise to distance themselves from the president now, given his unpopularity among the public at large.

http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=2754&eeid=5426292&_sitecat=1504&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=-2&ck=&ch=ne

[rodeodance]

1. oh send in Laura and they can have a love fet.

[Sugar Smack]

2. Aw, I could have told you that for free.

;-)

[Wapsie B]

3. Simply amazing.

They hitch their wagons to one of the least qualified people to ever occupy the White House in modern history. With voting shenanigans they get him elected and re-elected. Now he's damaged goods. Says a lot about the gop.

[Benhurst]

4. "[W]ithout alienating any who hold Bush in high regard"? How

do you alienate someone who is brain-dead?

[man4allcats]

5. But this can't be!

Bush said just last week that he will be a "strong asset" for Republicans battling for election in 2008. Do you think he would lie about a thing like that?

Well I suppose a better question would be "Do you think there's anything he wouldn't lie about?".

[Buns_of_Fire]

6. Part of the Democratic strategy, then, is clear...

...tie whoever winds up with the republic nomination as closely to Chucklenuts and His Divine Policies as is humanly possible. Right?

[peaches2003]

7. Yet they still vote everything he wants

I would like to think some day we will know why. Is he blackmailing them? Even in swing districts where the Repug Congressman up for reelection and the Senators who are vulnerable still back him. It's more than loyalty. No politician is loyal if it is against their own interests, yet these guys still march in lockstep with him.