tygerland.net

David Brooks, on PBS’s Newshour, hit the nail on the head on Saturday. He argued that Bush’s failure to sack Donald Rumsfeld earlier, cost the Republicans valuable support in last weeks Midterm elections.

Brooks argues that much of Bush’s popularity was built on the fact that many white-collar Americans could relate to him. He was folksy, down-to-earth, and built himself up as the MBA President – someone who would use business acumen to get things done. This was of course nonsense. Bush’s pre-White House business prowess has been exposed and much maligned, but that didn’t matter, as he could always rely on his mastery of the stump and his “I’m just like you,” town hall mantra. Yet in reality, when faced with the clear and grave ineptitude from one of his key subordinates, he proved he was nothing like the white-collar swing-voters that had thrust him to power. He didn’t punish incompetence. And in a meritocracy like America, that was unforgivable.