Response to Conservative Criticism of the Bush Legacy
Today, I came across an editorial in The Weekly Standard by Matthew Continetti that effectively refutes the conservative notion that the Bush legacy was damaged by Bush expanding government in cahoots with the Democrats (see Misreading History(1/26/09)). I strongly recommend reading this short article. Briefly, Continetti first summarizes the conservative criticism of the Bush legacy:
Somehow Republicans and conservatives have gotten the idea that, if only Bush hadn’t approved all those big spending bills, things would have worked out splendidly . . . . Since voters couldn’t sport the difference between Republicans and Democrats, they opted for the real party of government. Hence the constant refrain you hear in conservative circles about the GOP needing to “return to its roots” and oppose the welfare state on principle. That will boost conservative turnout, reestablish confidence in the Republican party, and get us back to the glory days.
Disagreeing with this, Continetti effectively, eloquently, and concisely explains the major failing of the Bush legacy in a nutshell:
The lesson of the last eight years is not that Americans want a smaller government. It’s that Americans recoil at what appears to be an incompetently run government out of touch with the major challenges of the day.
Anybody who cares about the future of the Republican party would be well advised to remember this brilliant statement. Simply put, it says it all!
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