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If George W. Bush weren’t such an arrogant horse’s ass
Tue Feb 3 21:28:30 2004
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http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4012.shtml
Devious Dubya's Dismal Dilemma
By WILLIAM D. McTAVISH
Feb 3, 2004, 00:41

If George W. Bush weren’t such an arrogant horse’s ass, you could almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.

After all, Dubya not only faces an increasingly tough re-election campaign against Democrats who smell blood, he also has a revolt in his own party, led by conservatives who are now saying “see, we told you we could do better.”

Poor Dubya? Not really. He deserves everything that is happening to him.

A month ago, things looked a lot better. The Democrats were self-destructing as Howard Dean appeared headed for an easy nomination, Saddam was in the clink, the economy showed some signs of resurgence and the “compassionate conservative” even managed to get a prescription drug bill through a reluctant Republican Congress.

Then things started going to hell.

The guy charged with finding Saddam’s so-called “weapons of mass destruction” came home and said the weapons weren’t there and, even worse, probably never were.

Then John Kerry won the Iowa caucus. That could be a problem. Unlike Dubya, Kerry actually went to Vietnam and fought in a war. He didn’t don a flight suit for a phony photo op on an aircraft carrier.

Dubya had a chance to get back on track. All he had to do was deliver a strong State of the Union speech the night after Kerry’s surprise Iowa win.

But he muffed it, delivering a weak campaign stump speech disguised as the State of the Union. Even party partisans admitted it wasn’t very good.

Next, those pesky auditors at the Congressional Budget Office crunched the numbers on the prescription drug bill and found it was going to cost a lot more than the boys at the White House promised. Word leaked that Dubya’s budget deficit would be a lot higher, a new record in fact. The Republican Party’s rabid right-wing, which didn’t like the drug bill in the first place, went ballistic.

David Keene, leader of the ultra-right American Conservative Union, started emailing his members, saying Dubya had sold out the principles of the Republican Party, which is a laugher because such a statement assumes the party had principles to begin with.

Angry GOP conservatives confronted Speaker of the House Dennis J. Hastert in a closed-door meeting and said the President had sold the party down the river. Some even said it would be easier to work with a Democratic president because, as California conservative Chris Cox put it – “we know what to expect from the Democratic president.”

Even right-wing pundit Cal Thomas questioned the President and the feeding frenzy was on.

Then John Kerry won the New Hampshire primary and goes into Super Tuesday today leading all the polls, including those that say he would stomp Dubya if a Presidential election were held today.

If Kerry sweeps Super Tuesday, he will be well on his way to grabbing the Democatic nomination. I know the old mantra that a New England liberal can’t win the South and if you don’t win the South you don’t win the election, but Kerry’s ace in the hole is Southern Senator John Edwards, a charismatic candidate who won’t win the nomination but could give the Democrats a one-two punch as the veep.

Still, it’s early in the election year and a lot of things could happen.

The lagging jobs sector of the economy could rebound.

Our troops could trip over a rock in Afghanistan and find Osama bin Laden hiding under it. I wouldn’t put it past Dubya to have Osama on ice right now and hold him as an October surprise. He’s that willing to gamble American lives and security to win an election.

Whatever happens, devious Dubya faces a dismal dilemma. The Democrats hate him with a passion matching GOP hate for the Clintons, his own party is not that fond of him and the American public is increasingly wary of a President who seems willing to gamble American lives if it serves his personal and political agenda.

(Bill McTavish is editor of Capitol Hill Blue)

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