Republicans have been quick to attack Democrats who criticize Pres. George Bush when he is overseas as being unpatriotic. Politics should end at the border, they say. But at the GOP presidential debate last night in New Hampshire, many of the candidates lambasted Bush who was in Europe on his way to the G8 conference:
Attorney Rudolph Giuliani:
[Part] of what we have to do, and we haven’t done right, is take on that responsibility of nation-building. We created that responsibility for ourselves when we overthrew Saddam Hussein, which we did very effectively. It was one of the greatest military actions in American history overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
But we didn’t accomplish the second step. People can only embrace democracy when they have an orderly existence, and we have to help province that. We didn’t want that role, but it is our role. We have to train our military to do it
Arizona Sen. John McCain:
This war — I’m going to give you a little straight talk. This war was very badly mismanaged for a long time, and Americans have made great sacrifices, some of which were unnecessary because of this management of the — mismanagement of this conflict.
Rev. Mike Huckabee:
[Republicans have] lost credibility — the way we bungled Katrina, the fact that there was corruption that was unchecked in Washington, and the fact that there was a feeling that there was not a proper handling of the Iraqi war in all of these details, and the indifference to people pouring over our borders.
Pres. of LogisticsHealth, Tommy Thompson:
I certainly would not send him to the United Nations. (Laughter.)
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo:
Some time ago, 2003 I think it was, I got a call from Karl Rove who told me that because of my criticism of the president, I should never darken the doorstep of the White House. I have been so disappointed in the president in so many ways since his — actually for the last several years, not just the immigration issue, but several other things, including the No Child Left Behind and the massive increase in government that we call prescription drug — Medicare prescription drug, that I’m afraid I would have to tell the president of the United States — I mean as president, I would have to tell George Bush exactly the same thing Karl Rove told me…
[Later...]
The biggest problem, I think, in this administration has been the fact that he ran — the president ran as a conservative and governed as a liberal.
That is what has really been the basis, I think, of the distrust that has developed among the Republican base. It’s well-founded. We have to do something about that.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul:
The president ran on a program of a humble foreign policy, no nation-building, and no policing of the world. And he changed his tune, and now we are fighting a war, and our foreign operations around the world to maintain our empire is now approaching $1 trillion a year. That’s where the money’s going, and that’s where it has to be cut so we can take care of education and medical cares that are needed here in this country.
