According to
E&P, newspapers endorsing Bush currently represent circulation of 8.6 million [
days-old figures, I know, but bear with me...]. Given that these aren't all exactly the most enthusiastic statements, I offer one cobbled together from excerpts from Bush endorsements, all from newspapers listed in compilations by either
Editor & Publisher or
dKosopedia. I have made efforts not to take any of these excerpts grossly out of context, though I obviously didn't provide proper citations. But still, I offer this ringing endorsement of President George W. Bush.
Like many Americans, we have serious misgivings about some aspects of the president's performance. The case against the reelection of President George W. Bush is extensive. Are we, as Coloradans, better off today than we were four years ago? In a word, no.
The rest is below the fold...
The president led the nation into a war we would not support now if we had known the facts at the time; his administration again and again made wrong decisions in waging that war and its aftermath; we can only hope that war does not leave us substantially less safe than we would have been without it; the administration's fiscal management has not been conservative or even prudent, much like that of California, whose governor got recalled; homeland security has been virtually unfunded and managed like a pork-barrel program; outright pork, in such forms as indefensible handouts to agricultural business interests, has been seldom equaled; and the administration's practice of secrecy in policymaking is antithetical to the interests of a free press and free country.
We worry that Bush, who promised to be "a uniter not a divider," while rightfully pre-occupied with the war on terror, has nonetheless permitted the extremists in his party to exploit social issues for partisan purposes. We worry that he has allowed those extremists to demonize all government instead of encouraging good and robust government.
Our endorsement for the president isn't a recommendation for four more years of the same. The president refuses to acknowledge mistakes, and that is unlikely to change in a second term. But he still should correct them. There is much the current president could have done differently over the last four years. There are lessons he needs to have learned. We wish the president were willing to acknowledge the mistakes that were made, and to hold accountable those in his administration who made them.
It's no secret that we part company with the president over many issues. Bush's first four years have been, kindly put, less than perfect.
Our support for Bush is tempered by unease over the poor choices and results of his first term. To succeed in his second-term, Bush must begin by taking responsibility for U.S. failures in Iraq, admit his mistakes and adjust U.S. strategy. Big time, as his running mate might say. Obviously, Bush has made serious errors in judgments regarding Iraq. Appalling weaknesses in planning served to hamstring Iraqi reconstruction and gave the terrorists their opportunity to wreak havoc. From its reliance on flawed intelligence to its inability to admit lapses in judgment, the White House has been its own worst enemy in making a cogent case for its war-related actions and conduct. Mr. Bush should have shown more patience before invading Iraq. It is disturbing that planning for Iraq after the invasion so badly missed the mark.
Since President Bush took office, this newspaper repeatedly has criticized his administration’s borrow-and-spend fiscal policies, which have resulted in massive deficits that weaken America. Mr. Bush has not been as prudent a steward of the nation's economy and environment as he should be. It is mystifying that the president failed to veto a single spending bill, and that he sometimes acts as if Congress inhabits a parallel universe where he is not allowed to intervene.
The Patriot Act's darkening of public records in the name of national security is at best dubious, at worst a chilling reminder of the way things shouldn't be.
He has imposed his personal religious views on public health and scientific research policies. This has been done to the country's detriment. The president’s environmental policies are a disaster in the making, and we believe the senator would better protect the air and water. The administration's weakening of environmental rules and secret meetings with fatcat energy execs are an embarrassment. He bows to corporate preference in matters of energy and environment, and his education funding levels leave far too many children behind.
The president adamantly refuses to listen to those who question him. He has insulated himself from voices he doesn't want to hear and suggests that those who question his Iraq policies are playing into the hands of the enemy. He has mocked his critics, and in the process has proved to be a divider rather than a unifier, feeding the growing national tendency for Americans to work against, rather than with, each other in developing solutions to common problems. He has failed to unite a deeply divided nation.
As Winston Churchill once said, "When you're going through hell, keep going."
(incidentally, I already posted this to my "real" blog, Free Lunch)