George W. Bush ended his second term demonized by Democrats, but in reality Democrats had it pretty good under him.
Compassionate Conservatism was his mantra for a while, and it probably did reflect his own attitude of inclusiveness. So he ended up doing what a lot of liberals wanted him to do. For example, the No Child Left Behind Act was a nod to liberal icon Ted Kennedy.
Furthermore, his proposed immigration amnesty program, although it never passed, was quite liberal.
Medicare part D was a big government spending program that has or will make a lot of citizens even more dependent on the government -- seemingly a major Democrat goal.
As for the war in Iraq, Democrats were for it before they were against it. Later they could only justify their previous position by claiming, wrongly, that Bush lied to them. And with the exception of the Iraqi war expenditures due to their change of heart, Democrats were just fine with the increase in the national deficit during the Bush administration.
So their attempts now to justify Obama's extravagant spending by citing the way Bush drove up the deficit ring hollow.
While Democrats didn't control the White House, they had it pretty good under Bush. But the key word is "control." And that's what's up for grabs now as the drive for power ranks right up their among the other drives that dominate human behavior.
But what did we learn from Bush's Compassionate Conservatism? One lesson that is sure to resonate among conservatives is that no good deed goes unpunished. Efforts to mollify Democrats by passing legislation they want is like feeding crocodiles. It won't make them like you, and if given the chance, they just might try to tear your legs off.
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