Did Bush Destroy The Republican Party? Peggy Noonan blasts GW as the main villain in the current Republican malaise which shunned right of center, bed rock candidates as Tancredo, Hunter & Thompson, and embraced notable RINOs such as McCain & Huckabee.
Ed Morrissey brings a little perspective to Noonan's rant.
The seeds of Republican discontent took root in Congress, not the executive. It was the succession of Republican Congresses that refused to cut spending, and instead blew wads of cash on non-defense discretionary spending. Bush led in some of these efforts, but he didn't multiply pork exponentially; that came from House and Senate Republicans. He didn't climb into bed with K Street, either -- that project started before Bush ever arrived at the White House with Tom DeLay and others.Maybe. maybe not.
It may be fashionable for Republicans to cast all blame on the President, but that falsely absolves those who created the problems that plague us at the moment. It may also sound rhetorically spectacular to declare the party "destroyed" by having its constituent coalitions debate about its direction, but it's both inaccurate and hyperbolic.
RINO update: John McCain endorsed by the NYT and now by…Geraldo Rivera!
RINO update update: John McCain hires Dr. Juan Hernandez; a mexico first, open-borders proponent for his Hispanic outreach director.
Wake up, America!
