Bush's Legacy

UPDATE II: As I have said before, while Clinton was a great Republican president, in the sense that he united and strengthened the Republi-con party, Bush was a great Democratic president.

The Republi-cons "overreached in interpreting the results of the presidential election of 2004 as a mandate for the party. This resulted in the disastrous elections of 2006 and 2008, which combined for a total loss of 51 Republicans in the House and 13 in the Senate — with a corresponding shift of the Congressional majority and the White House to the Democrats." So says one of the few remaining moderate Republicans. Read The New York Times, We Didn’t Have to Lose Arlen Specter.

Then read the Washington Post, Arlen Specter's Switch for first thoughts by politicians, strategists and political observers. With the exception of Gingrich, the consensus is that the switch does not bode well for Republi-cons.

All hail Bush, God's chosen one to destroy the evil Republi-con party and savior of the Naive-crats.

UPDATE II: From the Washington Post, Arlen Specter's Switch and GOP's Identity Crisis:

"Specter's move is about his own political survival. . .

But there is also something to Specter's public explanation of his decision: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

Moderates like Specter have been run out of what, as November's election showed, has become a niche regional party in thrall to its far right wing. Just take a look at this map that illustrates how votes shifted between the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections."

If you were a contrarian, you might argue that this is good news for the Republi-cons. Read the Washington Post, Good News for Republicans! Maybe it is good news for the Republi-cons, maybe they are delusional, only time will tell.

One Republi-con has had enough, rumor has it that Senator Arlen Specter will change party affiliation to Democrat AKA Naive-crat. Thanks to Bush the Republi-cons are most a party of angery, old, white guys in the South.