The lastest polls put Bush's numbers somewhere between the high 20's and the low 30's. I find this incredibly high for someone who is not only a failure as a "war president" but as a conservative.
There are two reasons and two reasons only why almost a third of the nation still approves of this corporate shill: 1) They are neither conservative or Republican but Bushists whose only ideology is whatever Bush wants it to be and 2) The more popular reason-they cannot admit they are wrong.
It's hard to admit you are wrong. I was the world's BIGGEST Republican until 2003 when we went into Iraq. The rationale didn't make sense and too many citizens where getting blacklisted for questioning the President (Dixie Chicks, Janeanne Garofalo, Bill Maher, etc.) and I didn't like what Bush was making this great nation into-debtor nation with no checks-and-balances.
I came of age under the Gingrich revolution-where small, unintrusive government, budget surpluses, government accountability and protectionist MADE-IN-THE-USA trade policies were the conservative norm. It was tough leaving my political party in 2003 but Republicans left there values behind for inconsistent, destructive policies. The party left real conservatives behind in favor of Bush's shortsighted whims.
It's hard to admit a mistake, something that Bush rarely does. But learning from mistakes is what makes us grow as adults. I cannot tell you who a better alternative is, Democrats are barely better. But getting the GOP back to its Roosevelt/Lincoln roots may be the political challenge we need to make this generation. This can only happen if you first admit that you are wrong on Bush.
