Somebody's Got a Bad Case of the Second-Term Bushitis

[TemplarKormac]

Yup. Obama's got that bug too. He had such lofty goals for his second term, that is until almost every scandal imaginable broke out early this year, damaging his ability to advance his agenda. What made things worse was the failure of the PPACA or Obamacare. Bush pulled the same stunts in 2004, and really got nothing done for the rest of his term. Perhaps the next president should get a vaccine, to ward of the second term Bushitis.

At National Journal, Ron Fournier lays out nine analogues between George W. Bush's generally disastrous second term and Barack Obama's. From the top:

Bush wasted no time plotting an expansive vision for his second term, ordering speechwriters to produce an Inaugural Address that made "ending tyranny in our world" official U.S. policy. His domestic agenda included changes to Social Security, immigration, the tax code, and court-clogging litigation rules. Obama unleashed an aggressively liberal agenda in his second Inaugural Address, promising to combat climate change, loosen immigration restrictions, curb gun violence, and expand human and civil rights.

Bush and Obama made the same mistake. Both men convinced themselves that they were reelected because of their agendas, rather than because of negative campaign strategies that essentially disqualified their rivals—Democrat John Kerry and Republican Mitt Romney. In fact, many of the issues claimed as presidential mandates in 2005 and 2013 actually received relatively little attention from the candidates and from the media in 2004 and 2012.

Somebody's Got a Bad Case of the Second-Term Bushitis - Hit & Run : Reason.com

You can read Ron Fournier's entire National Journal Article (as mentioned here) at this link.

 

[william the wie]

I disagree with the analysis. The Ocare launch dates are too clever by half and will backfire more than all of Bush's errors combined.

 

[TemplarKormac]

I disagree with the analysis. The Ocare launch dates are too clever by half and will backfire more than all of Bush's errors combined.

Care to go into more detail? Frankly while the effects are more severe on one than the other, the pattern is there for all to see. Calculated or not, it backfired on both of them.

 

[Katzndogz]

Bush was a genius compared to obama. His foreign policy alone will haunt this country for years. Egypt is alienated. The Saudis broke off diplomatic relations. The state department allowed the Ambassador from India to be so abused that India is not only throwing us out but starting the mass arrests of American same sex partners.

If that isn't bad enough Merkle ended up yelling in obama's face.

No wonder obama is running off to a four million dollar vacation. Bush was never so bad that he had to hide outside of the continental United States.

 

[Hoosier4Liberty]

Here's all the GOP needs to focus on in 2014:
Obamacare
Obamacare
Obamacare

We can sprinkle in stuff about NSA/IRS and a few other things, but Obama's lies, repressions of liberty, and all around despotism should be the focal points of our campaign against him.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Bush was a genius compared to obama. His foreign policy alone will haunt this country for years. Egypt is alienated. The Saudis broke off diplomatic relations. The state department allowed the Ambassador from India to be so abused that India is not only throwing us out but starting the mass arrests of American same sex partners.

If that isn't bad enough Merkle ended up yelling in obama's face.

No wonder obama is running off to a four million dollar vacation. Bush was never so bad that he had to hide outside of the continental United States.

No genius runs up trillions of dollars in debt, Katz. As for the rest of that, I agree.

 

[william the wie]

Simply say worst than the first comes after the 2014 election because the President rewrote the starting date on his own signature piece because he knew it was such a piece of crap. So vote R now or you will in 2016.