Lots of folks are looking forward to President Bush leaving office. Many conservatives, myself included, have been disappointed by aspects of his presidency, including his approach to illegal immigration and his past refusal to veto excessive federal spending.
But this article by Larry Kudlow points out that President Bush had a good year in 2007. The surge is working, the economy has stayed strong and we still haven’t taken another terrorist hit. And it looks like he’s finally going to get serious about earmark reform.
Historians will ultimately judge the success of the Bush Administration, and there is still time to improve his overall grade. But as everyone looks ahead to the election and the next administration, let’s not forget that this president many of us worked to get into office still has one-eighth of his presidency remaining.
And as conservatives, we should be grateful for two “big picture” things — President Bush has kept his word in appointing conservative, non-activist federal judges, and he responded aggressively and effectively when America was attacked.
Even through the disappointments, I hope we can recognize that we would be less safe, less prosperous and less able to govern ourselves (without meddling from activist judges) had the nation elected a President Gore or President Kerry. (Had Gore won we’d all be riding bicycles everywhere by now.)
As we come to that recognition, I hope we are motivated to be involved in electing Republicans in 2008. All of the Republican presidential candidates have flaws, and right now we are all eagerly pointing them out to each other. But at the end of the primary process, whoever emerges from the Republican primary will be more committed to defending our nation, securing the border, ending earmarks and cutting spending than any of the potential Democratic nominees.