Nope, I would prefer that they oppose, but do not prevent anything from being done during Bush's second term. I hope the Dems can get it together, we need opposition, but we don't need an obstacle to well, everything.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I never said the word President in the quote you cited CJ. Let's review, Senate solidly Republican, House, solidly Republican, Presidency Republican, Governors, Republican. A liberal President has not been elected in recent memory. So what part of the modern liberal agenda is resonating through America right now?


Isn't that the crux of the argument. If he waters down his agenda and gets some of it passed through he still wouldn't have gotten his agenda passed. Anything but passing his "conservative" agenda would qualify as not having his agenda passed. And unless the Democrats give him a little help, he won't get it passed.

So, so far in this thread, some have gone as far as vow that they would not even attempt to support this President. Some have said that we owe him nothing, some have said that he hasn't earned their support. These opinions are a very very large minority of the country, so with that said, without the help of the people of the United States, how do you expect President Bush [or anyone short of God] to be able to unite us?

The job of uniting the country cannot be placed on one man's shoulders. It should be placed on the shoulders of every single American, because without our help, nothing will be done, and this bitterness will last for a long time. How anyone can expect one person to unite a country of 270+ million by himself is beyond me. The President needs help to unite America, help from Congress, Governors and the people. The divisions that are so clear in the country today were not made by one man. They were made by just about everyone, the idea that Bush is the Great Satan that divided the country is silly. The 2000 Election started the dividing, and it snowballed with Bush's acts and the acts of those that oppose[d] him. The division took place over time, and so will the uniting.

CP

A fair point CP, but I don't see the forces causing the divides relenting any time soon, in fact they are becoming emboldened by this "mandate" you and others claim that the President and Republicans in general have. As an example - Dallas News (reg req'd)

Quite a few of those on the conservative side of the aisle are retreating more and more to the extreme margins of the right and pushing moderates out of the picture. It is precisely things like this that feed the divide and it will never get better until groups like this get a good slap and step back into place at the fringes instead of in the mainstream.

Also from that article:

This is from within the Republican party CP, this isn't Democrats saying this. It is extremely scary from my side of the aisle, but I know that many Republicans don't like where this president is going either. As I have said numerous times, he has a choice here. He can be successful and push a more moderate agenda or he can be a hated failure and try and mollify the extremist portions of the Republican party.

It really is that simple. I know that very few if any Democrats will support the same ultra conservative agenda he has been pushing for 4 years, but I think that you might see support eroding in the Republican party as well. Bush has the ability to be the big man here, do the right thing and be remembered in history for it.

I don't think he has learned mush of anything from his first term, so I personally don't expect to see compromise.

I don't get it, you want Bush to water down his agenda with the Democrats' defeated one, yet you do not understand why some would support the agenda affirmed by the American electorate partially implemented? Don't get me wrong here, this election isn't a blank check for Bush to authoritarianize [no, that is not a real word] the country. I'm not a huge Bush fan, but I do understand that the Republican Party [with him at the helm] have won the right to implement their ideology. It seems to be what most of the country wants given the last three elections [Presidential, Mid-term, Presidential].

Agreed. As I said, we need opposition, but we don't need gridlock, nothing would ever get done if the minority party didn't budge a little bit. I'd be saying the same thing if the Dems were in control [believe it or not].

Edited to reply to CJ:
Agreed, a good many Republicans are moving right, [and more authoritarian, hence my party change]. That is a fair point. That said, the President is showing no signs of doing that. I think you'd concede that this ridiculous illegal immigrant amnesty isn't the mark of a conservative. His promise to spend "political capital" is up for interpretation. I doubt it means a right-wing agenda will be implemented, but we'll have to see. I just don't see Bush moving right after the election [you can have my crystal ball when I'm done with it ].

Right wing? No sir, spending like a leftist, proposing amnesty for illegals and supporting Affirmative action is not the act of a conservative, needless to say a right winger. The isses that make Bush "right-wing" in the eyes of some are gay marriage [that's valid], abortion [is their a moderate view on abortion?], and faith based initiatives [another fair point]. So I guess I just don't see him as conservative, for the most part.

CP

Let me put it this way ConservPat, if I were Senator Nighttimer I would sit down, make up a list of the Top Twenty Things I Could Work With President Bush on. Then I'd ask to sit down with the president and whittle that down to a doable ten things. Just a lousy ten items I could back Bush on.

I'd like to think there are at least ten things I could agree with anyone on that would be good for the United States. It might take us a long time to find those ten things, but I would hope that reasonable people can reason together.

It is a continual source of bafflement to me when I read self-described conservatives who say Bush isn't one of them. For those of us on the Left side of the street, Bush is a conservative to the power of ten. Then again, many of us didn't think John Kerry was all that terrific of a liberal either.

But in no way is Bush going to pursue anything that remotely resembles a "liberal" agenda. I don't think James Dobson is going to lose any sleep over that. Nor do I think what we on the Left thinks is going to have much of an impact on Bush and how he conducts himself over the next four years. It's going to be the moderates of the nation that are going to pressure the president to be inclusive in his dealings with Democrats and it's the moderates who are going to have to battle with the far Right for the battle for Bush's soul.

America at its heart is not a place where the extremes hold sway. People in this country have a sentimental notion that it's good to be inclusive of all points of view, but at the end of the day they don't want a truly polarizing politician running things. That is one reason why Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Pat Buchanan, Dennis Kucinich, David Duke, George Wallace, Jesse Jackson and Ross Perots can run--and win---on a small scale and enjoy some degree of success, but they are such partisans, so out of the mainstream thought and such polarizing figures that they can't make it all the way to the Big Chair.

Bush never scared enough Americans that he was the incompetent, bumbling and barely competent slave to wealth and power that Kerry tried to portray him as. That doesn't mean he isn't, but Kerry never sold people that he was a better alternative.

What can you say about this situation? Apply to Bush the immortal words of Lyndon B. Johnson, "I'm the only President you've got."

God help us all.

I'm not calling you left-wing, but the further left you are, the further right conservatives look. It's a matter of perspective, as a off center, reformed conservative myself, I don't see Bush as being very conservative, in the traditional sense of the word [less gov't, etc.].

I couldn't agree more. But I don't think he'll pursue a "right-wing" one either. Nor would I want him to, by the way.

I'm a moderate [okay, off center conservative], I don't want the country taken over by wing nuts anymore than anyone else, but I also don't see that as happening under Bush. And I hope I'm right.

CP

Well I dont support living in a environmentally destructive theocracy of big business, so no, the next four years of my life are really going to suck. I am deployed right now, i dont live in much danger really, but i have a very hard time trying to keep morale with these people in office. I have no idea how many people have died via their "vision" or that will die, but their is no way to undo those actions.

I have come to find the great deal of hypocrisy that can be found in voting bases though, that also disturbs me a great deal. When my time comes to get out of the army, i think i am for sure getting out, i joined the national guard when clinton was in office thinking gore was going to win for how good america was doing, and bush stated my feeling perfectly by saying how surprisedd he won going against the good nature or the world and or america was living in, i still feel good that he did not actually beet gore, but that votes had to be nulled and the supreme court had to put him in power. I really dont care to carry out the will of this administration, and i am actually ashamed to be wearing the uniform i do.

ON the day of election, you could hear me yelling a helpless no from my tent, and it took me days really to get over it, i even planned my defection to canada in that time, but have now come to my senses, and will just have to suffer for the next four, which is not to bad i guess, i mean how much damage can they inflict, i also feel better that colin left them, i could not see how he could be in close proximity of them without wanting to strangle someone really.

I will just have to wait for next time, and of course keep voting for my issues and be active in spreading my issues to people, like using this website for example. So overall i was actually sick, and no i could never support the new prez. I dont care what kerry said.

Washington's political atmosphere is far more hostile than that of any state or local environment, and therein lies the crux of the problem. Bush didn't create this atmosphere. I don't think he even realized the extent of it until he found himself immersed in it. In Texas he was able to work with those 'across the aisle' and achieve much success. This experience led him to believe he would be able to do the same in DC. Unfortunately, he never got the chance.

After awhile he began to hunker down and dig in his heels much the same as the rest of the town. A natural reaction, but a disappointing one.

I hope that he will be able to reach out more effectively in his second term.
Truth be told, that's going to be more up to the Dems than to him. With Daschle and his obstructionist strategy soundly voted out there is hope.

Now if we can only get the media to set aside their hate Bush agenda we might actually make some progress. Getting them to put America first is going to be a huge challenge though.