Eight Years of George W. Bush: What Did We Get?

[nighthawkal]

This is a posting that probably only political conservatives, Republicans, or Bush supporters will be able to relate to. If you are a liberal or a Democrat, this probably gives you an indication of what a lot of conservatives really think about George W. Bush and maybe you'll be able to relate a little bit to this too

Comments

[remjte]

...and I hope McCain is thoughtful enough of the Constitution to not infringe on civil liberties and civil rights under our circumstances.

Yeah, good luck with that. While you're at it, I've got this bridge you might be interested in. It's a good bargain; practically a steal.

The youth (read: idiot) vote went for Nader in 2000 or bought into Bush's rhetoric a little. The Nader voters repeated in 2004 but some went to Cobb. I wonder if Cobb and Nader together in 2004 got as much as Nader in 2000. Anyway, they'll still go to Nader in 2008, but a bigger chunk of them, including the types who went Bush in 2000, are going Obama, and for the same reasons. You can't stop it. You can't fix stupid.

[nighthawkal]

Is the bridge you're selling me in Nebraska? I'm looking to buy ocean-front property there.

An exit poll I saw showed Nader with 9% of the youth vote and Bush with either 45% or 46% of the youth vote and Gore with either 45% or 46% of the youth vote. That was a big improvement from Dole in 1996 who only got about 30% of the youth vote.

As for Nader in 2000, he got about 3% of the total vote. In 2004, all of the minor parties combined got about 1% of the total vote. I think a lot of the younger people that voted for Nader in 2000, went for Kerry in 2004. I think Kerry got about 54 or 55% of the youth vote that year and Bush got about 42% of the youth vote.

When it comes to people switching from Bush to Obama, I don't think its just the youth vote, but the youth vote is a big part of it. I think a lot of people, in general, are just upset about how things are going, and Bush is going to get the blame even for some things that you can't really blame him for.

[bumbletbw]

In both the 2000 and 2004 elections, my rationale more or less hinged on not wanting either Gore or Kerry. Kerry being in charge of Iraq scared me worse than four more years of Bush, also I thought policy stability would be a good thing. Wish in one hand ....

This election, again I'm stuck without an alternative to a crazy/stupid left winger. I like McCain, but I have my reservations. Once again we have another Republican candidate who can't handle himself well in front of the media. Bush is undeniably a PR disaster, and I really think in spite of all of the bad things that have happened under his watch, he could have done a lot better damage control given a better press staff and speech writers. He let his image take a hit, and along with it, American and worldwide confidence. And that's why Obama is so popular, he's the image candidate. It doesn't matter what he stands for as long as his skin is black, his name is Muslim, and he sounds white.

[nighthawkal]

I have my own reservations about McCain as well. I think he has a lot of band aid solutions, but I don't know if he'll do what we really need to do to get the country back on track.

I think McCain is at least decent in front of the media. He's better than Bush in handling himself in front of the media. I know that a good press staff and speech writers are important, but if you're President, you really should be smart enough and capable enough to give a speech or explanation about something without having to rely on a speech writer or a handler to tell you what to say. What did people like George Washington do? They didn't have these luxuries that the modern Presidents have.

I saw this clip on youtube a while back where they asked people on the beach who they supported for President. A whole bunch of these people said they liked Obama because he gave good speeches, because he was hot, because he was a good dancer on Ellen, and because Hillary CLinton was a bitch.