Is Bush A Conservative?

Is George W. Bush a conservative? I used to think so. I was convinced that in his heart he believed in limited government, low taxes, peace through strength, and the right to life. Occasional breakdowns could be chalked up to political reality and the necessities of wartime.

Now I think I was wrong. Bush is first of all a politician, and like all politicians his prime motivation is protecting and expanding his own power. He used conservatives to gain power and abandoned us as soon as we were no longer necessary. His failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court was the wake-up call for me. Many conservatives, myself included, held our noses and voted to re-elect Bush only because we could not stand the thought of John Kerry appointing pro-abortion justices to the court. With dozens of highly qualified constitutional scholars of impeccable credentials to choose from, Bush still decided to pack the court with one of his old cronies, who may even be pro-abortion herself. I was disgusted, and the fact that he failed to get his way does not excuse the fact that he tried.

Of course, to answer the question fully we have to define what is a "conservative." A new article by Jeffrey Hart suggests Bush may fit in a category of his own, but is in no case conservative.

The problem is that Bush campaigned in 2000 as a “compassionate conservative.” Today, the media calls him a conservative, yet there is nothing at all conservative about his policies, whether foreign or domestic. William F. Buckley once said that conservatism is the “politics of reality.” But Bush has not pursued reality-based policies. Will we have to find another word? It certainly looks that way...

Is Bush a conservative? Of course not. When all the evidence is in, I think historians will agree with Princeton’s Sean Wilentz, who wrote a carefully argued article judging Bush to have been the worst president in American history. The problem is that he is generally called a conservative, perhaps because he obviously is not a liberal. It may be that Bush, in the magnitude of his failure, defies conventional categories. But the word “conservative” deserves to be rescued. MORE

It will be interesting to see how much of Bush's dirt the Democrats will dig up, now that they control Congress. Call me a cynic, but I suspect it won't be as much as some pundits expect. The White House and the Dems will work out a cease-fire that gives both sides enough goodies to claim victory - and, most important, remain in power. That's what it's all about.