Some Advice For Bush

Last week I noted that Bush’s extreme unpopularity was due in large part to the fact that for the first time since 1952, with no incumbent president or vice-president running (and therefore having an interest in defending Bush’s record), the public gets a very one sided anti-Bush message. Victor Davis Hanson talks about this in his column Give ‘em Hell, Dubya. Hanson explains that Bush’s record really is defensible.

Last week, I asked a fierce Bush critic what he thought were the current unemployment rate, the mortgage default rate, the latest economic growth figures, interest rates and the status of the stock market.

He blurted out the common campaign pessimism: “Recession! Worst since the Depression!”

Then he scoffed when I suggested that the answer was really a 5 percent joblessness rate in April that was lower than the March figure; 95 to 96 percent of mortgages not entering foreclosure in this year’s first quarter; .6 percent growth during the quarter (weak, but not recession level); historically low interest rates; and sky-high stock market prices.

There are serious problems — high fuel costs, rising food prices, staggering foreign debt, unfunded entitlements, and annual deficits. Yet a president or vice president running for office (and covered incessantly by the media) would at least make the argument that there is a lot of good news, and that the bad that offsets it could be shared by a lot of culpable parties, from the Congress to the way we, the public, have been doing business for the last 20 years.

Hanson goes on to explain why Bush should follow the example of Harry Truman, the last President to be in this position and defend his record.

The American people are more interested in exactly how they are going to improve things, rather than hearing each hour how our collective problems are simply the fault of one man. Searing “Bush did it” into the public conscious won’t resolve our energy, economic, or foreign-policy challenges.

The truth is that America is providing unprecedented amounts of money to address the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Tax cuts brought in greater, not less total revenue. International trade agreements created more, not fewer, jobs. Security measures at home, and losses suffered by terrorists abroad, in part explain the absence of a second 9/11.

And drilling in ANWR and off the coasts and building more nuclear power plants, refineries, and clean coal plants — if the Congress would only approve — could provide a short-term mitigation of energy prices until we reach a new generation of clean-burning and renewable fuels.

George Bush could learn from “Give ‘em Hell, Harry.” A disliked Truman never went silent into the night, but defended his record until the very end — and was ultimately rewarded for it.

I understand Hanson’s point. I wonder though if Bush is avoiding a vigorous defense in order to make it easier for McCain to distance himself from Bush. Though if Bush is able to raise his approval rating, that in and of itself should help McCain. Kind of like swimming with one cement shoe instead of two.