Bush's Character Problem

by Mary

George W Bush has garnered high personal approval ratings through out his presidency and large numbers of Americans have seen him as regular good guy. When he assumed the responsibilities of President of the United States of America, Americans believed his promise to restore honor and integrity in the White House. And even moreso, after 9/11, Americans were anxious to trust their President, because "If you can't trust the president to do the right thing now, who can you trust?", and so, they gave this president a level of trust unknown to most of our modern day presidents -- and this group also included many Democrats and Independents who had been more sceptical of Bush after the contested 2000 election.

Yet today, a majority of Americans believe that Bush purposely lied or exaggerated the reasons for going to war and so, the perception that Bush is trustworthy has taken a significant hit, especially with the independents. Ruy Teixeira makes the point that as Bush's popularity and trustworthiness drops, Bushco will have to start to sell their policies on their merits, and not just because people trust Bush to do the right thing.

In 2002, when it became obvious that Bush was opportunistically using his "war on terror" and the tremendous emotional backing he had gotten after 9/11 to march the USA into a pre-emptive war on Iraq, people (like myself) who did not see Bush as protector of the free world started to speak against the misguided war and tried to understand the problem of why so many people in power (in Congress, in the media and in business) were acting like the rats in the Pied Piper of Hamelin and lining up behind Bush, just like he had told Bob Woodward he believed they would.

What allowed so many people to put aside their critical thinking faculties and believe Bush's lies was the topic of many conversations. What allowed them to have changed seeing the bumbling boy who would be president (from election 2000) to the leader of the free world with incredible moral clarity? It looks like the biggest problem is how suspectible people are to advertising that hooks them emotionally.

Paul Waldman whose excellent new book, Fraud, has an interview with Buzzflash where he shows that Bush is one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever launched.

"At some point, George W. Bush took a good long look at who he was and what he wanted for the country and decided that the American people would never buy it if he gave it to them straight." So Bush and his political machine made their decision: the American people would have to be lied to.

They would construct a persona that would be everything Bush was not.

They would take the same reactionary agenda and cloak it in comforting catchphrases and pleasing visuals, presenting to the public a false image of sympathy.

And they would repeat this message endlessly.

The power of the fraud lies in the ability of the Bush machine to manipulate the press, and thereby avoid having the truth exposed. Waldman's findings reveal an astonishing record of how the nation's media has not only given Bush a pass again and again, but have failed to follow up on even the most openly dishonest parts of the Bush agenda."

One of the most significant weapons in Bush's arsenal for the next election has been his high approval ratings. As long as the majority of people find him to be a good guy and as long as they trust him (afterall he is known as a bold and confident leader), successfully challenging Bush would be very difficult thing to do because people are conditioned to give him the benefit of the doubt even when they don't like the policies he is championing.

People don't necessarily vote for a challenger to an incumbent unless they seriously question whether the incumbent deserves reelection. If enough people believe that Bush had good reasons to lie about Iraq, they won't necessarily see this is enough of a reason to look for someone else. And if they believe the lies about his tax cuts helping the economy (and remember, people have been conditioned to believe taxes are really, really evil so all tax cuts must be good), then they might decide the Bush was wrong on Iraq, but still deserves to be elected. Until enough people really start to see who George W Bush is and until they realize that they have been conned, the 2004 election is destined to be in the hat (and certainly the big money is eager to purchase another round of Bush policies). Fortunately, the recent AWOL media frenzy is also making an impact on Bush's reputation, but by itself is not enough to overcome the Bush myth. As Krugman said:

Some of his critics hope that the AWOL issue will demolish the Bush myth, all at once. They're probably too optimistic - if it were that easy, the tale of Harken Energy would have already done the trick. The sad truth is that people who have been taken in by a cult of personality - a group that in this case includes a good fraction of the American people, and a considerably higher fraction of the punditocracy - are very reluctant to give up their illusions. If nothing else, that would mean admitting that they had been played for fools.

Nevertheless, Bush has a track record of squandering his good luck and good fortune by his own intransigence and lack of caring about much besides himself. This was true in his days as a businessman where the companies where he was in charge collapsed under the weight of bad business decisions and greed. It was true after 9/11 where Bush took the outpouring of sympathy and goodwill to smash the international rule of law so he could get his war because it would advance the theory that might makes right and since he commanded the mightiest military in the world, by God, he could do what he wanted with it.

Is Bush squandering his reputation for trustworthiness? Are people starting to see to what extent he will lie and exaggerate to get his way? Are they starting to question the direction he is taking this country? If so, this is really good news because once people start to believe that they've been gamed by someone who they once trusted, they are more inclined to feel betrayed and angry with the person who betrayed their trust. It will be extremely difficult for him to regain their trust. And then Bush's own character will play a role in defeating him in the upcoming election.