As the U.S. Senate and Congress fight over immigration and GOP Presidential candidates form their campaigns and rally support in Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire, the one constant and most standard conversation among these politicians revolves around distancing themselves from President Bush and his Administration.
This effort to isolate President Bush and his policies from one’s own belief system seems to be as trendy as Gucci sunglasses in Hollywood and Vera Bradley bags at Providence College. These Republican candidates are following the polls and know that President Bush’s ratings are plummeting. In fact, Politico reports on June 19, 2007,
In a Quinnipiac University poll, Bush’s support among GOP voters fell to 61 percent, from 74 percent earlier this year. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found the same thing, with Bush GOP support dropping from 75 percent in April to 62 percent now.
The problem with this trend is that these politicians are fighting against the President, instead of putting forth their own substantive ideas. Certainly dissent is healthy for a democracy, but dissent to the point of a lame duck Presidency when America has a vast number of dire problems is intolerable.
The issue with GOP hopefuls Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and John McCain is that they do not offer real solutions to these problems. Each of these continuously refers to Ronald Reagan who, as a Republican, was preferred by 79% of attendees in the 2007 CPAC Straw Poll to a Bush Republican. Reagan was a great leader because he aggressively combated problems in America, for example reducing marginal tax rates at all levels and defeating communism throughout the world. Reagan lives in infamy for his accomplishments. But, politicians today will not leave their mark in history and win votes from the American people by continuously opposing the President without presenting an alternative.
No real solutions are being offered in response to issues that permeate the news – Social security, immigration, the War on Terror. And these issues are only growing. Republicans and Democrats alike criticize the President on whatever solution he offers. They say “No” to privatized social security, “No” to the latest immigration bill, and “No” to supplemental funding for the troops. Do the current politicians want us to fail? Do they want to create problems larger than those which already exist?
The Republicans are paving the way for Democrat control in 2008 if they continue to follow this trend. We need candidates with real solutions. We cannot fight against the President for the sake of argument. Politicians need to stop playing politics with America’s future and work to solve the problems they are elected to solve.
