Reviled by Democrats and generally avoided as a campaign talking point by his fellow Republicans, the former president is in a self-imposed political exile — an absence that was underscored in the last two weeks as his father and brother backed Mitt Romney.
Bush’s only presence in the Republican campaign is by association, as President Barack Obama’s campaign and national Democrats pin three years of recession and the now-unpopular Mideast wars on the 43rd president. More than 40 percent of voters still blame Bush for the nation’s economic problems. Congressional Republicans hold him at a distance, and some have faulted his policies for helping to give rise to the unpredictable tea-party movement.
“It saddens me, because I think that President Bush, through a perilous time for our country, kept us safe,” said former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer. “And people forget he came in with a recession, he left with a recession but in the middle, the economy boomed.”
Like many former Bush hands, most of whom declined to speak for the record, Fleischer suggested Bush is getting a raw deal from his fellow Republicans.
“He’s taken a lot of hits, and politicians know how to read polls, and I understand why they’re not asking President Bush to stand at their side. But I think it’s unfortunate,” Fleischer said.
But instead of looking for a second act once off the stage like Bill Clinton — who eagerly interjected himself into the 2008 Democratic primary between his wife and Obama — Bush is, except for speeches and personal travel, in virtual hiding in Texas, where he bought a home in Dallas. Yet friends and former aides say that he has chosen to be in the wings.
“George W. Bush has never needed the mirror of politics to reflect who he is,” said former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon, describing Bush as “at peace” with his current life.
But while none would say it, the reality is that 2012 candidates view Bush with caution. After all, Romney has recruited just about every town councilman and state representative in the country as surrogates, but Bush’s absence as the primary comes to an end — and as his closest blood relatives made endorsements — is glaring.
“Obama didn’t beat McCain, he ran against and destroyed George W. Bush,” said one longtime Republican insider. “Anywhere Bush had a favorable under 35, Obama won and that was most of the country…the GOP feels he hollowed out the GOP brand, eroding the GOP’s core strength on spending restraint. No longer could the GOP claim to be the adult in the family, managing the family budget responsibly.”
Bush had equal culpability in how he handled the nation’s two Mideast wars, the strategist said. (WHAT??? Not according to CS Conks! The guy was a fvcking hero!
)A spokesman for the former president said he had “no plans to endorse, at least not at present.”
Poor Dubs.
Uncle Tom.