Of words and deeds: Bush as candidate versus Bush as President

In August of 2000, President Bush -- then Governor and presidential candidate Bush -- gave his acceptance speech at the Republic National Convention. Six years later, it is interesting to compare some of what he promised with what he has delivered. While no one would argue that the September 11 terrorist attacks would not have altered the plans of any president in 2001, Bush did make some statements that he is not adhering to today.


On when to use force

"A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam: When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming." 

During the 2000 election, Bush spoke out against nation building. But by 2003, the US had toppled the Iraqgovernment and was trying to rebuild a shattered nation. While Bush talks about his "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," it is hard to view that the Iraqi venture meets the criteria he laid out in the summer of 2000.

Just, clear goal, and overwhelming victory? The original goal was to stop Saddam from producing and using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Now, the goal is Iraqi liberty and democracy -- and the other reason given is that we can't run now that we are there. Perhaps the current justifications would still be "just" to Bush, but to most in Congress and the country, if we knew during the fall of 2002 why we would be in Iraq in 2006, the authorization for use of force would have certainly failed or been passed with severe limitations.

Certainly the initial stage of the fighting was an overwhelming military success; however, three years later, with (as of today) 2,544 troops killed and almost 19,000 wounded, the ultimate victory we are still hoping to achieve is anything but overwhelming.


On American power

"We have seen a steady erosion of American power and an unsteady exercise of American influence."

While there is little doubt that the American military, even stretched as it is with deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, remains by far the most powerful armed force in the world, American political influence is not very strong and not consistently applied. The Iraq conflict continues to be a sore spot with American allies, and the situations in Iran and North Korea demonstrate that America 1) can no longer act alone -- particularly with so many military assets committed to Iraq, and 2) does not consistently react to security threats.

While Republicans and the Administration would fight this charge, most observers would say that American influence has diminished over the last three years.


On cutting taxes and war fighting

"The last time taxes were this high as a percentage of our economy, there was a good reason; we were fighting World War II." 

The most interesting aspect of this quote is that Bush equates having high taxes as being OK during World War II. And given that Bush likes to recall the imagery and sacrifice of Americans in that war and equate it with the current fight against terrorism, it would seem to make sense that he would think it was therefore OK to have higher taxes to offset the massive increase in defense spending as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Of course, this comparison apparently no longer makes sense to Bush, though many Americans would undoubtedly understand and agree if he argued we needed to temporarily raise taxes to pay for the current operations.


On following the law

"So when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God."

This quote is interesting in light of the debate over the Administration's prolific use of signing statements that supposedly allow the President and his team to interpret the law as they see fit, and the Administration's various once-secret surveillance programs. While we will see more legal opinions and rulings in the future on both these subjects, the Administration has certainly made many opponents question its belief in upholding laws it does not like or want to follow.


Bush does ignore polls, at least initially

"I believe great decisions are made with care, made with conviction, not made with polls." 

With unfavorable polls on both his leadership and the Iraq conflict, it appears the one thing you can say about the President is that he is willing to stick with what he thinks is the current correct course of action, despite negative public opinion.

This "ignore the polls" philosophy is actually more talk than action, though. Many times, Bush has been willing to give in to mounting public pressure, though he would deny it (supporting the 9/11 Commission, following the Geneva Conventions on military bases, letting the courts review the legality of NSA warrantless wire tapping, etc.). So even in this case, it's hard to say that in the end he has delivered on what he promised to do six years ago.