Bushbama: Change You Can Believe In

What do a non-practicing Jew, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have in common?

They all love pork!



New president. Same old disastrous financial policies.

Bushbama, anyone?

H/t Infinite Unknown

President Bush: "McCain Is A True Conservative"

Uh, well okay, boss. If you say so.

The Times has it:

President Bush broke his silence on the 2008 presidential race on Sunday, giving his imprimatur to Senator John McCain of Arizona as a “true conservative,” who nonetheless has “got some convincing to do” to persuade fellow Republicans of his bona fides with the right.

The remark, in an hourlong interview broadcast on “Fox News Sunday,” was as close to an endorsement as Mr. McCain will get from Mr. Bush at this stage, before a nominee has been officially declared. It was also a sharp departure for Mr. Bush, who had refused to be drawn into commenting on the race.

“I think that if John’s the nominee, he’s got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative,” Mr. Bush told the Fox host, Chris Wallace. “And I’ll be glad to help him if he’s the nominee, because he is a conservative.”

With conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh saying that a McCain nomination would destroy the Republican Party, the senator’s advisers had been hoping for just this sort of public embrace. It came on the heels of Mr. Bush’s call for unity in a speech Friday to the Conservative Political Action Conference, which was also widely interpreted as an implicit endorsement of Mr. McCain.

Until now, with the exception of an early prediction that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would be the Democratic nominee, Mr. Bush had done his best to steer clear of extensive discussions of the candidates, especially the Republicans. He has repeatedly said he will not be the “pundit in chief,” and said on Sunday that he did not want to get “into the trap again of getting involved in this primary.”

Even so, Mr. Bush offered his thoughts not only on Mr. McCain, but also on the other remaining Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee, and the Democrats as well. He also defended former President Bill Clinton, who has been accused of playing on racial sentiments by attacking Mrs. Clinton’s opponent, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

“I can understand why President Clinton wants to campaign hard for his wife,” Mr. Bush said. “And you know, these accusations that Bill Clinton is a racist I think is just wrong. I just don’t agree with it.”

...

Mr. McCain’s differences with the White House are well known. He did not vote for the president’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, a sore point with groups like the conservative Club for Growth. And he disagreed with Mr. Bush on campaign finance reform and the use of harsh interrogation tactics against terrorism suspects. But Mr. Bush defended him.

“I know him well,” Mr. Bush said. “I know his convictions. I know the principles that drive him. And no doubt in my mind he is a true conservative.”

This quasi-sorta-but-not really endorsement may actually help McCain gain some credibility among conservatives but it doesn't change anything in terms of the problems Republicans have with the Maverick's history and policies. Bush may be convinced that he's driven by conservative principles but the base isn't so the President had it right when he said McCain's got a lot of convincing to do if he's going to win in '08.

Harper Steps Up Pressure On NATO Allies

I didn't post on it yesterday but I'm sure most of you know by now anyway; Jack Layton has been telling reporters that Canada and our international coalition isn't strong enough to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan and so we need to run away. I know it sounds like I'm giving the story Conservative spin but that's nearly a direct quotation.

According to The Star, this is Layton's official position on Afghanistan:

The Taliban cannot be defeated by international troops and there's no point continuing to fight an unwinnable war in Afghanistan.

What a noble man. As the story mentions, it's clear that Layton is thinking about the next election and trying to corner the market on the anti-war vote by painting himself as the only true coward of the three major parties. Dion, who has been characteristically back and forth on the mission, says that he at least supports the troops as long as they're there whereas Layton's policy calls for a complete and immediate withdrawal from the country.

His logic is flawless: lets engage in tooth and nail warfare in a foreign country full of terrorists for a couple of years, wait until the country's deeply entrenched in violent conflict, and then leave before any real progress has been made to watch them sort out the mess themselves. And the NDP are the party of compassion? What about the Afghani men and women who don't feel like being slaughtered by the Taliban, Jack? Got any compassion in that great big heart of yours for them?

On the other hand, Harper has been glorious as always and has been stepping up his pressure on major NATO allies to supply 1,000 more troops for the Kandahar region in southern Afghanistan. Reportedly, he talked to President Bush about it for 20 minutes yesterday and he's calling British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today.

The National Post reports:

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper escalated diplomatic pressure on Canada's NATO allies yesterday, warning Britain's Gordon Brown that Canada will end its combat mission in Afghanistan next year unless the military alliance supplies 1,000 more troops for southern Afghanistan.

For the second consecutive day, Mr. Harper pressed a major Canadian ally to step up cooperation, calling the British Prime Minister the day after he delivered the same message to U.S. President George W. Bush in a 20-minute telephone call.

Mr. Harper briefed both leaders on last week's report of the independent Manley panel and its core ultimatum: Canada will end its combat operations in Kandahar by February, 2009, unless its allies provide another 1,000 troops and much-needed military hardware.

"Without that, Canada's mission will end in a year's time," said a statement from Mr. Harper's chief spokeswoman Sandra Buckler.

The Prime Minister has been aggressively defending the mission since the Manley Report was released and he's made it clear that he's sticking to his guns regardless of dissent from the NDP and, to a lesser extent, the Liberals. Layton and Dion seem to think the key to the next election will be the anti-war, or at least the soft-on-the-war, ballot but as things get better and better in Iraq, popular opinion should swing around towards creating stability in the Middle East just in time for the next Canadian federal election.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is next on Mr. Harper's call list, before he moves on to tougher challenges such as the leaders of Germany and France.

NATO is supportive of the Manley report and has pledged to help Canada find the support it needs to keep its 2,500 combat troops in Kandahar.

Britain will also get a firsthand briefing today when its Foreign Office Minister, Kim Howells, visits Ottawa for meetings with Defence Minister Peter MacKay and senior Foreign Affairs officials.

Story from Bourque News