Sunday, April 1, 2007

GOP candidates keep their distance from Bush


By JAMES GERSTENZANG
Los Angeles Times

Republican presidential candidates are giving President Bush the
silent treatment.

Consider their remarks last month before a convention of conservative
activists whom Bush had carefully cultivated and whose support helped
propel his successful presidential campaigns.

As one candidate after another addressed the annual conference of the
American Conservative Union, which drew 6,300 participants, Bush was
the man who was not there.

Not only did he not speak to the convention; he was barely mentioned
when those who would follow him to the White House addressed the
conservative cadres.

The candidates' distance from Bush reflects a basic political reality:
They are Republicans seeking to replace a GOP president who nearly
twice as many people believe is taking the country in the wrong
direction, according to recent polls.

Bush also is singularly identified with a war that, the surveys have
found, a solid majority of the country does not think has been worth
fighting.

The cold shoulder Bush is receiving from people looking to assume his
mantle as party leader is a far cry from the not-so-distant past.

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Whew! I can smell the stink all the away over here.