Republican strategist Ed Rollins called Bush "a failure who destroyed his party"
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on November 6, 2008 - 4:31pm.
Rapid Response
Hello Everyone:
Ed Rollins in my opinion is usually a very straight talking Republican strategist who gives his honest analysis as opposed to partisan spin when he comments about something. Here is where he explained in a CNN article about why Bush "will be judged as a catastrophic failure who destroyed his party:"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/rollins.historic/index.html
updated 9:17 a.m. EDT, Mon October 27, 2008
Commentary: Election 2008 is heading for the history books
By Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor
Editor's Note: Ed Rollins, who served as political director for President Reagan, is a Republican strategist who was national chairman of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign.
"Guided by his political guru, Karl Rove, it was Bush II's ambition to make the Republican Party the majority party for decades to come. He and Karl wanted to create a political realignment that would marginalize Democrats for at least a generation and maybe more.
Not satisfied to change only American politics, Bush and his neo-con advisers, led by Dick Cheney, wanted to use American military might to spread democracy to places that had been led only by tribal councils and ruthless dictators.
If Bush had accomplished these goals, he truly would have been a historic president much like his newfound hero Harry Truman. But his failures were unimaginable. W will go down in history, all right.
He will leave office with the lowest approval ratings of any president in modern times and will be judged as a catastrophic failure who destroyed his party, left his successor with two unpopular, unfinished wars and left the country in the worst economic condition in nearly eight decades. That's not even counting the Bush administration's inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
By comparison, his father's failed presidency looks pretty good. Barack Obama has very effectively tied John McCain to Bush and tried to convince voters that electing McCain means four more years of Bush's failed policies..."
Ronald Reagan's conservative son Michael Reagan bluntly blamed Bush for John McCain's loss which in my opinion very heavily implies that he thinks Bush's Presidency was a failure:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/05/ltm.08.html
AMERICAN MORNING
Barack Obama Elected President; Examining the Effect of the African-American Vote; Colin Powell Interview
Aired November 5, 2008 - 10:00 ET
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: "Well, not only did Republicans lose the White House, Democrats increased their power in Congress. So, can the grand old party get back to its grand old ways? Well, Michael Reagan is the conservative radio host of the nationally syndicated "Michael Reagan Show." He joins me from Los Angeles, this morning.
Don't look so thrilled this morning. I know it was a tough one for you last night. But moving forward, what do you think?
MICHAEL REAGAN, ELDEST SON OF PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN: You know, it really wasn't that tough. It was really kind of expected. The Republican Party has lost its way. And this was a referendum last night really on George Bush, and the Bush administration and what the Republican Party has not done over the past eight years...
REAGAN: It was George Bush, who I think caused John McCain to lose this election..."
Even the more liberal Chris Matthews agrees with Ed Rollins about "the failure of the Bush presidency" and with Reagan that Bush politically helped Obama which implies to me that this is a bipartisan consensus:
http://www.thechrismatthewsshow.com/html/transcript/index.php?selected=1&id=135
THE CHRIS MATTHEWS SHOW
Weekend of November 2, 2008
CHRIS MATTHEWS, "host: After winning the first big contest in Iowa, he really got rolling when he swept 11 primaries in a row in February, running up a delegate lead that Hillary never could beat. Six months later, Obama was in that stadium in Denver, the nominee of the Democratic Party. From there, he was neck and neck with John McCain for a few weeks, but in late September there were two more turning points. First came the financial crisis, and then Obama showed himself to be a steady hand in the first debate. That's when the Obama trajectory took off, and his domination of McCain has been pretty consistent every since.
Joe, I look at the bad economy we've had, the warnings of worse to come. I look at a lot of other things, the failure of the Bush presidency, but it seems to me the most important fact of life here is that Barack Obama is the Democratic Party's nominee for president. That's what--that's what's so determinant.
Mr. JOE KLEIN (Time Columnist): This was going to be a very, very difficult year for Republican under any circumstances..."
I have credibly documented how that it was arrogance, incompetence, and extreme ideology that caused Bush's Presidency to be a failure and that caused Bush to be a liability to the GOP in both 2006 and 2008:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16552
Questions candidates should be asking to their GOP Bush rubber-stamp opponents!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on September 15, 2008 - 4:53am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16242
How red state Democratic candidates can defeat GOP Bush rubber-stamp incumbents!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 7, 2008 - 4:10am.
All of this in my opinion was very easy to see back in 2004. People should have seen how that the Bush campaign used fear tactics in the 2004 election (such as "Cheney: Terrorists May Bomb U.S. Cities," "RNC Says It Sent Mail Warning Bible Ban," and "NRA/GOP Target Kerry On Guns") in order to try to get swing voters to give Bush a free pass on his many problems and to not hold him accountable in that election:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9490
The GOP played on fear in 2004, again in 2006, & they want a Permanent Majority!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on November 6, 2006 - 1:44am.
If more people would have seen this about Bush back in 2004 and then voted accordingly and/or if more Republicans in Congress would have stood up to Bush much sooner and would have said "No" to him long before an election, then MAYBE some of the damage that Bush has caused COULD have been avoided!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securingamerica.com/
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/16039
RESOURCES: Speeches, Articles, and Career Highlights to help define Gen. Clark!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 7, 2008 - 2:51pm.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.
http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!
than he did when it would have counted a lot more and when it might have made more of a difference to help stop all of the damage that Bush has caused:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/McCain_tags_Bush_GOP_Congress.html
October 23, 2008
Categories: McCain
McCain tags Bush, GOP Congress
Banner headline in today's Washington Times that may help with Virginia's swing voters while angering some of the president's loyalists: "McCain lambastes the Bush years."
Joseph Curl and Stephen Dinan's piece (there is audio, too):
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/23/mccain-lambastes-bush-years/
"I think, frankly, the problem was, with a Republican Congress, that the president was told by the speaker and majority leaders and others, 'Don't veto these bills, we need this pork, we need this excess spending, we need to grow these bureaucracies.' They all sponsor certain ones. And he didn't do what Ronald Reagan used to and say, 'No'; say, 'No. We're not going to do this.'"
When contacted about Mr. McCain's criticism of Mr. Bush, White House spokesman Anthony E. Warren said the administration would have no comment.
But one of the "most senior Republican strategists in the land," in the words of Mike "Playbook" Allen, was glad to:
“Lashing out at past Republican Congresses instead of Pelosi and Reid, and echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you’re not doing much to energize your supporters. The fact is, when you’re the party standard-bearer, you have an obligation to fight to the finish. I think they can still win. But if they don’t think that, they need to look at how Bob Dole finished out his campaign in 1996 and not try to take down as many Republicans with them as they can. Instead of campaigning in Electoral College states, Dole was campaigning in places he knew he didn’t have a chance to beat Clinton, but where he could energize key House and Senate races. I think you’ll find these sentiments shared by MANY of my fellow Republican strategists.”
By Jonathan Martin 10:37 AM
comments (50) | post comment | permalink
This is precisely what I hoped Obama would begin to do. I couldn't be more pleased with this development!
Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions
Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.
In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.
"The kind of regulations they are looking at" are those imposed by Bush for "overtly political" reasons, in pursuit of what Democrats say was a partisan Republican agenda, said Dan Mendelson, a former associate administrator for health in the Clinton administration's Office of Management and Budget. The list of executive orders targeted by Obama's team could well get longer in the coming days, as Bush's appointees are rushing to enact a number of last-minute policies in an effort to extend his legacy.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/index.html
Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon
Story Highlights
*Over three-quarters, 76 percent, disapprove of President Bush
*Bush approval rating is lower than President Nixon's after Watergate
*Majority, 57 percent, believe transition to President Obama will be relatively easy
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/index.html#cnnSTCVideo (1:41)
Transfer of power 1:41
Barack Obama and George W. Bush will come together as part of a White House transition.
Source: CNN | Added November 10, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/index.html#cnnSTCOther1
WASHINGTON DC (CNN) -- On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago.
President Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in the history of such polling.
Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job.
That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.
"No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."
Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his last full year in office.
As Obama visits the White House to start the transition from the Bush administration to an Obama administration, 57 percent of those questioned think the transfer of power will be relatively easy and free from tension, with 39 percent saying the transition will be difficult. 
Watch what Bush and Obama may talk about »
"A majority say that the transition from Bush to Obama will go smoothly, although nearly one in four predict a lot of tension between Bush aides and Obama aides in the next few weeks. That sentiment is highest among Democrats, but even among them, a majority believes that the transition will be relatively easy," Holland said. Watch Obama's ambitious agenda »
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday with 1,246 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. E-mail to a friend 
All About George W. Bush • Barack Obama
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/10/sitroom.01.html
THE SITUATION ROOM
Obama/Bush White House Meeting; Interview With Arnold Schwarzenegger; Palin Criticizes Bush Administration
Aired November 10, 2008 - 16:00 ET
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: "A new president will move into the White House in January. And it looks like he will have his work cut out for him. That's a certainty.
A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll has just been released measuring Americans' attitudes about their leadership, old and new.
Let's go to Bill Schneider. He's working the story for us.
Bill, what does this say, first of all, about the mood of this country right now?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, there's bad news, and there's worse news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): How bad is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the economy is falling off the cliff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got two wars going on, and we have got an economic crisis, the likes of which we haven't seen since the Great Depression.
SCHNEIDER: Eighty-three percent of Americans say the country is in bad shape. That's more than in 1992, when the first President Bush was ousted because of the economy, stupid. That's more than in 1980, when President Carter got fired after the malaise crisis. That's more than in 1975, after Watergate and the Nixon pardon.
In fact, the public is in its worst mood since this question was first asked nearly 35 years ago. Who are they taking it out on? President Bush -- 76 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing. That's a record. It's worse than President Clinton's low points in 1994. It's worse than his father's low point in '92. It's worse than Jimmy Carter's low point in 1979. It's worse even than Nixon during Watergate.
Harry Truman held the previous record for the most unpopular president since World War II. President Bush has now broken that record by nearly 10 points. But wait. There's hope.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Immediately after I become president, I'm going to confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.
SCHNEIDER: While three-quarters of Americans believe President Bush is doing a lousy job, three-quarters believe president-elect Obama will do a good job. What's he going to do, exactly?
B. OBAMA: We are going to have to focus on jobs.
SCHNEIDER: Most people are not clear exactly, but they have great expectations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Voters are clear about one thing. Two-thirds say it is more important for the new Obama administration to stimulate the economy than to reduce the deficit, full spending and full tax cuts ahead -- Wolf.
BLITZER: We will see what happens, Bill. Thank you.
And, as Bill just detailed, President Bush's record disapproval rating is really, really startling. On the flip side, though, let's show what happened to Mr. Bush's approval rating over the years. It peaked early in his two terms in office, when it stood at 87 percent in November 2001. That was right after 9/11.
You can see his approval with voters taking a slow, steady fall over the years, plateauing at 38 percent in '05, '06, and '07. Now it is at its lowest. And only 24 percent approve of the job he's doing..."
This CNN chart shows Bush's 76% disapproval number compared to every other President's highest disapproval number all the way back to Harry Truman:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/index.html#cnnSTCOther1
Bush's "my way or the highway" attitude toward people who disagreed with him in my opinion is a very big reason why his Presidency will go down in history as being a huge failure!
While people may have disagreed with Ronald Reagan on some issues, Reagan was able to get along and work with people who disagreed with him such as "Tip" O'Neill:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701429.html
When Partisan Venom Didn't Rule
By David S. Broder
Sunday, January 29, 2006; Page B07
The stench of partisanship is so strong in Washington these days that it is difficult to remember that it was not always the case that Republicans and Democrats were at each other's throats. But, in truth, there was a time when friendship and simple human compassion were far more powerful than any political differences.
A wonderful reminder of that fact can be found among the oral histories compiled by two dozen of Ronald Reagan's main associates that are being released Sunday by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. The transcripts are available at http://www.millercenter.org/ .
House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill with President Ronald Reagan at a bill signing in 1983. (Barry Thumma - AP)
One of the tapes was furnished by Max Friedersdorf, who ran the White House congressional liaison staff for Reagan. Friedersdorf recounts in the interview what happened while the president was recovering at George Washington University Hospital after the assassination attempt outside the Washington Hilton hotel on March 30, 1981.
Reagan was seriously wounded by John Hinckley, and the day after the shooting, Friedersdorf got a call in the White House from James Baker, Reagan's chief of staff, who was at the hospital. "Get over here," Baker commanded.
"I went over to GW Hospital and went up to the president's room," Friedersdorf said, "and Jim was outside the room with Mrs. Reagan and her Secret Service agent. Baker said, 'I want you to stay here until I tell you to leave.' "
What had happened, Friedersdorf learned, was that Nancy Reagan "was all upset," because Sen. Strom Thurmond had come over to the hospital a few hours earlier and somehow had talked his way through the lobby, up the elevator and into Reagan's room, where he attempted to chat with the gravely wounded president.
"Mrs. Reagan was outraged, distraught," Friedersdorf said. So Baker directed him to take up the watch, and "if any congressman or senator comes around here, make sure the Secret Service doesn't let anybody up, even on this floor."
Friedersdorf said he remained on duty during daylight hours for the next three or four days, and then word came from Baker that the president had recovered enough to start to see people.
The first person to be admitted, Friedersdorf said, was Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, the speaker of the House.
When the Massachusetts Democrat arrived, Nancy Reagan slipped out of the room and Friedersdorf retreated to a corner of the suite where he could remain unobtrusive. "Tip got down on his knees next to the bed, and said a prayer for the president, and he held his hand and kissed him and they said a prayer together . . . the 23rd Psalm.
"The speaker stayed there quite a while. They never talked too much. I just heard him say the prayer, then I heard him say, 'God bless you, Mr. President, we're all praying for you.'
"The Speaker was crying. The president still, I think was a little, he was obviously sedated, but I think he knew it was the speaker because he said, 'I appreciate your coming down, Tip.' He held his hand, sat there by the bed, and held his hand for a long [time]."
When I reached Friedersdorf last week at his retirement home in Florida, I asked him how it happened that Reagan's first guest was the leading Democrat on Capitol Hill. "Well," he said, "Tip was third in line of succession [after the vice president] and the fact he was a Democrat didn't bother anybody. We didn't even think about it. Tip had been calling constantly to see how the president was doing. And there was a bond there.
"I remember," Friedersdorf continued, "the first dinner the Reagans had in the private residence was for Tip and his wife, and my wife and I were there. Tip and the president had a drink or two and started swapping Irish stories.
"Often, after that, Tip would say pretty harsh things about some of our legislative proposals, and the staff would want Reagan to answer him. But they trusted each other, and the president would say, 'That's just Tip,' and let it go."
I asked Friedersdorf if he could imagine that sort of relationship flourishing now between the Republican president and the top Democrats in Congress.
"Absolutely not," he said. Sadly, I think he is right.
Better late than never BUT McConnell and other Republicans should have stood up to Bush MUCH sooner!
The Republican candidates who lost in 2006 and 2008 got just what they deserved for not standing up to Bush and saying "No" to him a lot earlier when it really counted:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AK6DW20081121
Top Republican says Obama "off to a good start"
Fri Nov 21, 2008 4:08pm EST
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "A top Republican said on Friday that Democratic U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is "off to a good start" and indicated he was pleased to see President George W. Bush get ready to leave.
"Our members, in one way, are kind of relieved by the departure of an administration that became unpopular and made it very difficult for us to compete," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill.
In part because of Bush's unpopularity, Obama won the White House and Democrats expanded their majorities in the U.S. Congress in the November 4 elections..."
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/iraq_war_tv/2008/11/23/154438.html
Bush: Iraq War a 'Success'
Sunday, November 23, 2008 8:35 PM
TOKYO — US President George W. Bush believes the Iraq war was a success and is "very pleased" with what is happening there, he said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on a Japanese television network Sunday.
"I think the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was right," Bush told the Sunday Project programme of the private Asahi network.
Saddam was an enemy of the United States and a lot of people thought he had weapons of mass destruction, Bush said, adding "remarkable" progress had been made in Iraq since the late dictator was toppled in 2003.
"People have been able to take their troops out of Iraq because Iraq is becoming successful. I'm very pleased with what is taking place there now," he said, adding there still is "a lot of work" to be done.
"We are bringing troops home because of the success in Iraq. But Iraq is not yet completely safe.
"So there will be a US presence for a while there at the request of the Iraqi government," he said.
"The United States is willing to continue to help. Most countries there within a very broad coalition have come home but we want to help this government," he said without further elaborating.
The Japanese network said the interview was conducted in Washington just before Bush left for Asia-Pacific talks in Peru at the weekend.
The Bush presidency has been indelibly marked by the Iraq war, from the invasion spurred by false allegations that Saddam was harbouring weapons of mass destruction to the abuses by US troops of Iraqis in the Abu Ghraib jail.
Some 4,200 US soldiers have been killed in the country in a war which has also cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars.
The war was also a dominant theme of the 2008 White House race, with president-elect Obama vowing to bring home the forces within 16 months.
http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p6
Exit Polls
President
National Exit Poll
17,836 Respondents
Would McCain Continue Bush Policies?
Total Obama McCain Other/No Answer
Yes (48%) 90% 8% 2%
No (48%) 13% 85% 2%
How George W. Bush is Handling His Job
Total Obama McCain Other/No Answer
Strongly Approve (7%) 15% 83% 2%
Somewhat Approve (21%) 9% 91% N/A
Somewhat Disapprove (21%) 31% 65% 4%
Strongly Disapprove (51%) 82% 16% 2%
How George W. Bush is Handling His Job
Total Obama McCain Other/No Answer
Approve (27%) 10% 89% 1%
Disapprove (71%) 67% 31% 2%
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0811/05/acd.02.html
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
Obama's Transition to Power; Making History
Aired November 5, 2008 - 23:00 ET
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "Another question and this is a big question was the role of President Bush in this election, for people who disapproved of President Bush, take a look at this. Open up the United States, disapproval of Bush, 67 percent of people who disapproved of that President Bush voted for Barack Obama.
And keep in mind that that number is 72 percent. So you're talking about three quarters of -- I'm sorry, two-thirds of the three quarters of the people in the electorate who do not like, who disapprove of President Bush voted for Barack Obama..."