Townhall...
Americans Appreciate
Bush
By Matt Towery
I’m a nonpartisan pollster, but I’m also a columnist with a strong
Republican background. So let me be clear right from the start: I
believe President Barack Obama and his national security team performed
admirably in the near-flawless effort to capture and kill Osama bin
Laden.
It’s disingenuous and just plain silly for anyone to say otherwise just
because the president is a Democrat or because they disagree with his
other policies. The snuffing out of the world’s top terrorist
demonstrated the power and determination of America and its leaders.
A poll we conducted just after the announcement of bin Laden’s demise
showed a modest upward bump in approval ratings for the president. I
expect these numbers to keep inching up over the coming weeks.
But another name has been connected with the Navy SEALs raid in
Pakistan, if perhaps in the background -- George W. Bush. He left
office with not the best of popularity ratings. But according to the
poll just mentioned, Bush, too, is greatly appreciated by the American
people for the policies he put in place that led to bin Laden’s abrupt
end.
In our nationwide survey of 1,735 registered voters, 65 percent of
Americans said that Bush’s policies contributed to bin Laden’s capture.
Amazingly, 48 percent of Democrats felt the same. And among all age
groups, a majority gave the ex-president his due for the manhunt that
ended so successfully last weekend.
To me, it’s both interesting and praiseworthy that Obama referenced
George Bush in his national address after the killing of bin Laden. The
president was also gracious enough to invite Bush to a celebration at
Ground Zero. (Bush politely declined.)
The fact is that when momentous events happen, the old cliche about all
of us first being Americans becomes true. For once, our partisan views
take a back seat.
That doesn’t mean Obama hasn’t made huge mistakes -- including, in my
mind, a stimulus package that only stimulated the nation’s debt and the
creation of reams more of bureaucratic red tape that have had the net
effect of making life more difficult for most of us.
That aside, we now may well be witnessing the maturation of a
president. Looking at the photographs in the situation room, as the
president and his advisors watched the bin Laden mission in real time
on video, one can’t help but notice the similarities to John F. Kennedy
during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here was a president -- maligned by
many -- making historic, and historically good, snap decisions.
During all this, somewhere in Texas was the man who endured nearly
eight years of fighting against the savage, relentless al-Qaida. While
Obama and his team finally breathed relief, George W. Bush likely was
receiving word of bin Laden’s capture and killing.
I believe that Bush contributed to the massive federal debt that now
weighs down America. And sometimes his style of leadership seemed hard
to understand.
As readers may recall, Bush got me pretty good when I wrote a column in
praise of then-first lady Laura Bush just before Bush left office. A
handwritten letter was sent to me. In it, Bush thanked me for
complimenting his wife. But he also made it politely clear that,
contrary to what I had suggested in the same column, he indeed did read
newspaper columns. I mention this because I believe many people have
done what I did in that column: underestimate Bush as president.
Who can forget the image of Bush standing atop the rubble of New York’s
Twin Towers after 9/11? He stood with a fireman, sleeves rolled up, and
said in no uncertain terms that those who had perpetrated that evil on
America would get what was coming to them.
In an important sense, I view Bush’s pointed promise and Obama’s
resolute fulfillment of it as two bookends in American history. This
week, I don’t feel like a Republican, a Democrat or an independent. I
feel like an American.
Will this capture and killing of bin Laden assure re-election for
Obama? Both the polling numbers and my own gut tell me no. Our economy
remains weak, and a vast majority of our poll respondents believe that
we may yet be the victims of retaliation by our terrorist foes.
But for the moment, we must recognize that Bush and Obama finally got
their man. Anyone -- Republican, conservative or anyone else -- who
attempts to deny Obama his due credit is only spiking the celebratory
champagne with sour grapes.
This week we’re all Americans. And two presidents deserve their due.
Read it at Townhall
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