if Bush gets a second term.... will he REALLY have a free hand?

[drumwolf]

I just finished reading a rather interesting article by Alan Bock on antiwar.com. Bock is a libertarian (as are the rest of Antiwar.com), not a Dem or a Repig. So he's somewhat of a detached objective observer.

Anyway, Bock muses that Bush isn't necessarily guaranteed a free hand if he gets a second term in the White House.

http://www.antiwar.com/bock/?articleid=1971

In short, although I don't know if Bush 43 will follow in the footsteps of Bush 41 and be turned out of office shortly after a war that saw his approval ratings shoot to improbable heights, I suspect it will be harder to sell the next war to the American people. Even some of the president's best friends implicitly acknowledge this.

Many pundits suggest that if Dubya is reelected he will have something of a free hand in a second term, and the neocons, playing to his sense of mission and self-importance, could bamboozle him into several next steps in the grand project of reshaping the Middle East. However, second terms for American presidents have seldom turned out to be the open road to freedom of action that some presidential supporters would like them to be. This is only in part because a second-term president becomes an instant lame duck, and the dedicated politicos are already paying more attention to the question of a successor than to any initiatives the denizen of the Oval Office has in mind.

I remember conservatives telling me that if Nixon were reelected in 1972 they had it on good authority that he would get serious about trimming the size of government. Instead we got Watergate. Instead of aggressive action during Reagan's second term – though it did feature the ongoing crumbling of the Soviet empire, for which he deserves some credit but not as much as his partisans want to grant him – we got Iran-Contra. During Clinton's second term we got Monicagate and an impeachment proceeding that was about much more than a stain on a dress.

Thoughts? It certainly gives me some hope that even if, god forbid, Bush is re-(s)elected, we may still be able to stop him or at least keep him in check.

[ButterflyBlood]

1. Let's just hope we don't find out

Personally, I'd rather have people except the worst so they work harder to stop him. If we expect the worst, he gets in again, and miraculously things aren't so bad, well nothing lost. Sort of a Pascal's Wager.

[drumwolf]

3. good point, but...

...I think the point I'm making is that if he does get in again, it won't be SO hopeless that we can't fight back, which means that the onus will be on us to do just that.

We don't want to get so pessimistic that we just throw in the towel.

[MnFats]

2. the thought of Bush unshackled by the need to "win" a 2nd term...

....
is absolutely my worst neightmare. Ever.
There is no limit to what Shrub and the shadow-men who direct him would then be capable of.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Democrats controlled the House when Nixon was re-elected.

Democrats won't control the House for a very long time again, because of gerrymandering.

[Soup Bean]

5. There are WAY too many of these kinds of threads tonight.

I'm not saying they're not interesting, because they are. However, I don't like to lose, and I never admit the possibility that I might lose. Concede once beaten...fine...do it gracefully. However, I'm not a fan of speculative "loser" threads when it looks like we might actually win.

Thanks!

[AndyTiedye]

7. All That is Holding Him Back Now is NO DRAFT

The first thing he'll do after stealing the election is to crank up up the draft big time.
Even Rumfilled knows they'll need MILLIONS of troops for the rest of the PNAC wars.

[Senior citizen]

6. Most wankers have one free hand.

-eom-

[NEOBuckeye]

8. If Bush wins a 2nd term, he'll likely cause severe damage to the GOP.

The Republican Party, which was never more unquestioningly lock-step than when Dubya first took office, is finally beginning to show its fault lines. Moderate-Conservatives have quietly questioned Bush for some time, and, in light of the Iraqi War debacle and its revelations, are beginning to become openly vocal about their views -- something that would have been unthinkable even as soon as six months ago. Republicans holding Federal and high State offices are also beginning to distance themselves from Dubya, fearing fallout and voter backlash from Iraq. Long time card carrying GOP members are deciding to opt out of the election, or even switch parties entirely, just to see that Bush gets the boot this fall.

Even if Bush were to win the election at this point, he would have a very difficult time trying to win these people back into his camp. Not that he would have to worry (as if he ever does), but his would-be successors will be faced with the difficult task of reuniting a party divided.

[maggrwaggr]

9. he'll have no freedom because millions of Americans will

surround the White House and demand he give himself up.

The only way Bush is gonna get a 2nd term is if he cheats.

[saracat]

10. Why do you even release this thought in the geat concious?

This is unacceptable.We wouldn't have to worry .there will be NO USA or Congress to worry about if Bush is reselected.I am glad you have hope. Perhaps you don't see him as as big a threat as many of us do.