Et Tu, Bush?

What William F. Buckley helped to found and Barry Goldwater strengthened and Ronald Reagan revolutionized is now in danger of completely collapsing. The conservative movement is in definitely in peril, but not from angry hoards of barbarians ready to storm the gates. No, not in the least. The figure at the center of the movement’s downfall is from within; George W. Bush. Bush, and not a popular outcry for liberalism, is bringing the end of conservative dominance in our national politics. Eight years of incompetence has done more to take down conservatism then the Democrats have done over the past eight years. Lets us count the ways in which W has doomed (at least temporarily) the conservative movement.

George W. Bush: The Ugly Liberal

First of all, I hesitate to label Bush a conservative. Yes, Bush is conservative on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. I concede that point. Now, on the other hand there is his record as president. Bush has overseen the largest growth in the federal government that this nation has experienced in years. Not to mention the sickening expanse of executive authority. For example, take the Patriot Act, which Congress passed, but Bush signed it into law. He could have vetoed it, but chose not to stop it. He has also been the prime beneficiary of that atrocious act. How has it been used by Bush and his administration? Well, to curtail some of the civil liberties of Americans. I’m not saying the United States under Bush is on par with Stalinist Russia, but it is not what we should expect from an American president. Aren’t conservatives supposed to be in defense of personal liberties and against big government? Mr. Bush seems to be pro-big government and anti-personal liberties.

Second, we can look at federal spending under Bush. When one looks at the massive increase in federal spending under W, one comes away asking; “are you sure he’s a conservative?” Well, if he is one, then I seriously should think about calling myself something other than conservative. I guess “compassionate conservative” is just code for “big spending liberal.” In terms of federal spending, Bush makes Bill Clinton look like a conservative. Writing about W’s spending, Mark Brandly of the Ludwig von Mises Institute stated: “In the first five years of the Bush regime, federal spending increased 45%...For comparison's sake, during the eight Clinton years nominal federal spending increased 32%, and under Bush I federal spending increased 23% in four years. In the 2000 election, Bush II promised to shovel money into all sorts of programs — and he's kept that promise.” According to this graph non-defense spending under Bush is the highest it has been since the early 1970s.

George W. Bush is responsible for the rise of Barack Obama.

Despite Barack Obama’s charisma and undeniable oratorical skills, he would not be on the verge of being elected United States President if George W. Bush had not been a colossal f@#k up. Barack Obama leads in the most recent polls 49% over John McCain’s 43%. (This 6 point lead is mainly due to the financial crisis and the false perception that Democrats are better on economic issues. One can argue, as I am here, that a Democrat in Republican’s clothing has been in the White House during this financial crisis. Not to mention the Democratic controlled congress also oversaw this catastrophe, but I digress) However, for most of the summer the polls have been fairly tight and McCain has had the lead for a few weeks in September. Obama, despite the damage that Bush has done for conservatives, has not been able to run away in the polls and it is not because of his race, but his politics. Obama may become our next President and it is not because he has promised change (the change he is offering actually came to the nation in 2006 and what has that done for us?) Imagine, if you will, what the polls may look like today if Bush had stayed true conservatism and showed any signs of competence. So, if Obama is elected to the presidency, then Democrats should sincerely thank W. And Republicans should blame Bush.

George W. Bush’s presidency has wasted John McCain’s candidacy and squandered the legacy of the Republican Revolution of 1994.

This is the flip side of the rise of Obama. John McCain has the potential to be Ronald Reagan, but thanks to President Bush he will mostly likely be another Barry Goldwater. I’m not saying that McCain would be the greatest president that this nation will has seen and will ever see. However, I do think that McCain could have been a very good president. (McCain could still win the election, but I have already conceded victory to Obama.) Thanks to the decidedly non-conservative policies and general incompetence of George W. Bush, we have been deprived of a more consistently conservative leader like McCain. McCain could have served as conservative check on Congress, which after November 4 will have an overwhelming Democratic majority.

Beginning in 1994 with Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” Republicans held control over congress for twelve years. During the first six of those twelve years these conservative Republicans served as an effective check on the Clinton administration. The legacy of the first half of Republican rule was the balanced budget. (Bill Clinton and his cronies and apologists like to argue that Clinton balanced the budget, but that is lie.) The balanced budget led to a record federal surplus that was then, in turn, spent by “Big Spender” Bush. The balanced budget didn’t go far enough. As Stephen Moore of the CATO Institute wrote in 1998: “We have a balanced budget today that is mostly a result of 1) an exceptionally strong economy that is creating gobs of new tax revenues and 2) a shrinking military budget. Social spending is still soaring and now costs more than $1 trillion. Is this the kind of balanced budget that fiscal conservatives want? A budget with no deficit, but that funds the biggest government ever?” Imagine if Bush had taken the next logical step and cut the federal budget instead of spending and spending and more spending. And imagine if we had a true conservative in the White House who inherited that balanced budget and the surplus.

There is a lot more than can be said on this subject, much more than a blog will allow. Bush has ruined conservatism, but we conservatives, including myself, share a small part of the blame for this eight-year mess. We helped to elect him twice. We made the bed and we are now going to be forced to sleep in that bed. As much as I fear that McCain will suffer the same fate as Goldwater, I would welcome the same results as that loss. Goldwater’s loss in 1964 helped to revitalize and fire up the movement that helped to bring about a thirty-year shift in American politics. Who will lead the next conservative revolution? Sarah Palin? Bobby Jindal? I don’t know, but I do believe someone will lead us out of the wilderness and back to the Promised Land.