Countdown to Crawford: McCain, Republicans must decide how to deal with Bush

With George W. Bush's final term coming to an end and approval ratings at an all-time low, the Republican Party is faced with the question of deciding how to incorporate the president into the John McCain campaign. The party must mull over how closely it will associate with Bush. Should he be invited to the GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul? If he is invited and attends, how involved will he be onstage?

Countdown to Crawford posed the question "What to do with George W. Bush"? Readers weighed in with 40 comments, as many offered solutions such as impeachment or, in more extreme cases, torture. A few came to the president's defense, but as national opinion polls suggest, those people were far outnumbered.

Jack wrote:

As a life-long Republican -- I first registered to vote in 1975 -- I worry that our party will spend years recovering from the disaster known as George W. Bush. I remember when our party eschewed foreign intrigue, government growth, reckless deficits, and heavy debt. Yet Bush has done a 180 from the traditional Republican platform, embroiling us in foreign conquests, ballooning the size of the government, and recklessly borrowing trillions (much of it from Communist China, no less) that will curb our economic growth until the year 2060. Our children and grandchildren will be paying for his mistakes most of their lives. I wish more Republicans would distance themselves from Bush like Ron Paul has. It's time for our party to divorce itself from the Bush legacy of failure.

Joshua, a former member of the armed forces, wrote:

I don't quite understand all this visceral hatred spewed here about George Bush Jr. I think he did the right thing at the right time. I have fought in the Iraq war and Afghanistan and would proudly do so again without question. Because I have talked to many Iraqis both Shia, Sunni and Kurd I have gotten to know the region and it's people quite intimately, the same sentiment I also extend to many Afghanis. Millions of women in the middle east and in centeral Asia have rights because of the actions of the United States Military that were undertaken because of the orders of George W. Bush. How many of your readers would like to live under the yoke of Saddam Hussein or Mullah Omar? All in all I believe he has done the right thing and I hope that your readers would put themselves in the position of being a decision maker such as the President of the United States perhaps they might come t some different conclusions once the themselves had to get daily security decision briefings as well as having to read the Presidential daily brief. Leave the man alone.

Jeffrey wrote:

Now that he will be a citizen again ... send him to Iraq!

Frank came to the president's defense:

George w. Bush: brave, courageous, logical, orderly, follows through on his word, never afraid to speak his mind and always has the faith to speak his mind, a religious man with convictions, one wife and loving father, and yes, he did turn his life round .... and looking at all these good qualities, it is very understandable why the left hates ... not just hates, but despises him! He is everything they are not and probably will never be. And as we get closer to losing him as our president, lets hope more realize these truths.

Steve Witte wrote:

I presume that President Bush is a good, decent man, albeit the worst President that America has ever had. But as President, the Republicans must accord him the respect his office is due and have him at the convention - because he is a good man and because he IS THE PRESIDENT.

Got an opinion on what Republicans should do with Bush in his final days in office? Leave your mark in the comments.

-- Mark Milian

Photo: Paul J. Richards  AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[festinog]

Frank said of GWB that he was "never afraid to speak his mind"

Talk about the shortest speach in the world.....