AS DEMOCRATS face a US electorate angry about the economy and other issues, they still have one political asset: George W Bush.
The former Republican president is blamed more than President Barack Obama for the budget deficit, unemployment and illegal immigration, according to a Bloomberg National Poll conducted July 9th-12th.
Most surprising is 60 per cent say Mr Bush is primarily responsible for the current situation in Afghanistan. Just 10 per cent point to Mr Obama, who has ordered 51,000 additional troops to that country since taking office, doubling the number deployed by Bush.
When Mr Obama entered office in January 2009, there had been 568 US casualties associated with the Afghanistan conflict, a number that has grown to 1,086 this week, according to the Defence Department. The president has vowed to start withdrawing forces in July 2011, with the pacing determined by conditions on the ground.
Asked to compare Mr Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina with Mr Obama’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 51 per cent say Mr Bush’s performance was worse, while 35 per cent name Mr Obama. Republicans are more likely to pan Mr Obama’s performance on the oil spill, with 69 per cent saying he did worse than Mr Bush.
Facing a tough environment in the November congressional elections, when their control of both chambers may be at stake, Mr Obama and his fellow Democrats often mention the problems they inherited from the previous administration, which left the White House 18 months ago.
“They spent a decade driving the economy into a ditch,” Mr Obama said at a Las Vegas fundraiser last week for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. “And now they’re asking for the keys back. And my answer is, ‘no, you can’t have the keys. You can’t drive’.”
It has been common in US politics to blame previous presidents for problems. For generations, Democrats ran against Herbert Hoover’s Depression-era economic policies and some Republicans still talk about President Jimmy Carter’s supposed softness on foreign policy.
Mr Bush has stayed mostly quiet in public since leaving the White House. His book, Decision Points, is scheduled to be released around the November election. – (Washington Post/Bloomberg News)