|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Passion and Fury on the Right John LeBoutillier Who said the following? "No matter what Bush says, I don't trust him! He has caused untold turmoil in our nation. The man is a total phony! The longer he stays in our White House the more uneasy I become. He has fully exposed himself as a total fraud!" A) Howard Dean B) Hillary Clinton C) Jack Sherratt, a California Republican who voted for George W. Bush twice. Answer: Mr. Sherratt, who is a regular reader of this column. His reaction to President Bush is not unique. Another reader, Charley, wrote, "I voted George Bush because I was under the impression that he was a man of high principle and moral values. But based on the decisions he has made since he was elected I see I made a huge mistake in judgment. He has sold out to big business on so many issues it makes me ill." Jack and Charley - and millions of conservatives like them - are the heart of the conservative Republican movement which has always thrived when it had a common "enemy." For 40 years it was Soviet Communism and Big Government. By the late 1990's it was Bill Clinton's smutty behavior and Hollywood's poisonous culture. In 2000 George W. Bush was able to harness this passion and fury on the right to defeat Al Gore. And, of course, 9/11 allowed Mr. Bush to harness the entire nation's fear and pain to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. From 1999 on I wrote column after column - from a conservative perspective - questioning the truthfulness and competence of George W. Bush. And I was excoriated by fellow Republicans and conservatives for this. Up until six months ago, the emails defending Bush - and attacking me for being a RINO (Republican in name only) - were steady and vitriolic. But things are changing. There is an ongoing tectonic shift inside the Republican and conservative movement that is reflected in e-mail after e-mail - all from people who once proudly defended President Bush. Until now, the base itself - the voters who nominated and elected him - has held. But that base is now beginning to defect. Polls show that Bush's support among Republicans has recently dropped from 90 percent to 64 percent. And only 20 percent of GOP voters now "strongly" support Mr. Bush as opposed to 34 percent a year ago, according to the latest ABC/Washington Post poll.
President Bush - instead of commanding the passion and fury of the conservative movement to his political benefit has allowed himself to become its target. On issue after issue, Mr. Bush has betrayed his own supporters: On federal spending. From Jeff in Ohio: "Leading up to the 2000 election. I was a Republican conservative Christian sure W was the man. Send over a huge plate of crow. I cannot imagine a worse disaster. I will never vote Repub again. No excuse for uncontrolled increase in spending, and total disregard for civil liberties along with a thousand other reasons." On foreign policy. Dave from San Diego: "I am so embarrassed that I voted for this fraud twice. What is even worse is our foreign policy fiasco being orchestrated by Darth Cheney and Dr. Paranoiac. Many of my fellow Republican friends are seeing this and feel like they cannot believe anything coming out of this administration." On the Dubai Ports deal. Mike from Illinois: "W's administration is a mess. He has abandoned his supporters. I feel as if it were a sham. Ports, borders, jobs flying out of here - it's frustrating." On immigration. Alex from NYC: "I've personally spoken with Republicans who are so angry over Bush's amnesty bill that they are thinking about leaving the GOP." This new-found despair and disgust on the right indicates turmoil this November - and maybe even a place for an anti-establishment independent third candidate in 2008: Mitchell from Ohio: "I am a 30-plus year voting Republican. I am so mad at him I can't see straight. He just doesn't get it. I predict big losses for Republicans in the 2006 elections and President Bush should look in the mirror when it happens." From Rosanne: "I will tell you that the American people are longing for a man or woman who stands for something, and not become lapdogs for their political party or a tool for the religious groups in this country that want to make religion the national policy for the nation." George W. Bush, who tried to act and look like the "son of Reagan" in order to command the conservative base, has proven himself indeed to be the son of George H.W. Bush - the last Republican president to betray his base. The result? The passion and fury of the Republican right are now aimed directly at him.
Editor's note:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2008 NewsMax.Com |