VA GOP Candidate Praises Bush: I Want His Economic Record

The legacy of George W. Bush has weighed heavily on the Republican Party, casting a large shadow over GOP candidates in the past two national elections.

But is that toxicity beginning to wane? For the first time in recent memory, a Republican candidate is actively embracing the tenure of George W. Bush, citing the economic growth up through 2006 as a template of governance he'd like to pursue.

On Saturday, former Virginia Attorney General and current gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell delivered the following remarks at the Boys State Convention in Lynchburg, Virginia.

"President Bush put in a ten-year tax-cut on everything from the death tax to capital gains tax and it was followed by an unprecedented period of economic recovery and economic growth," he said. "In fact, it almost overheated the economy through about 2006. So, I think that's the way you stimulate business. And that's the kind of governor that I'm going to be to reduce those impediments to entrepreneurship, to let small businesses grow and thrive and create some opportunity."

To be fair, it is hard to draw a larger trend from one snippet of one speech of one candidate for what is still considered a Republican state (though increasingly a political toss-up). Additionally, McDonnell has praised Bush in the past. But as the economic environment becomes increasingly owned by the Obama administration it will be curious to see not just how frequently Republicans whack the president on this front, but how willing they are to tie themselves to the early Bush years. Will McDonnell be the exception or the norm?

Comments

[coolchange]

05:38 PM on 06/30/2009

Bush lied about the state of the economy just like he lied about WMD's and everything else.

This country was in a recession long before Bush publicly admitted to it in his last year in office.

[Nelda Mohr]

05:01 PM on 06/30/2009

I read this article and promptly sent some money to Deeds. Talk about being out of touch!

[Mom4Choice]

04:23 PM on 06/30/2009

Time to go make some popcorn--this trainwreck's gonna be good.

[majorwood]

04:17 PM on 06/30/2009

Bob McDonnell should stop smoking crack.

[tjdumas]

04:11 PM on 06/30/2009

This man won't win the presidency of the glee club.

[SamKnause]

03:02 PM on 06/30/2009

The man is delusional.

[poobah]

02:48 PM on 06/30/2009

They all want his record. That's why we are in the shape we are.

[ConcernedAmerican]

02:47 PM on 06/30/2009

Selective memory loss must be nice....

[Senzasord]

02:46 PM on 06/30/2009

So he wants to do for Virginia what Bush did for America.
Ship all the remaining jobs in Virginia to China.
Give all manner of no bid state contracts to his buddies in effect handing them the key to the state treasury and telling them to help themselves.
Give obscene tax breaks to the wealthiest one percent of Virginians thus letting them satisfy their greed at the expense of the public interest.
Appoint totally incompetent cronies to state offices so they too can do a helluva job and let Roanoke drown in the next hurricane.
Invade West Virginia in an effort to reunify the state and fund the effort with supplimental appropriations that are off the books and out of sight of Virginians.

Virginians! Will you better off four years from now than you are now?

[pennsykid2000]

02:46 PM on 06/30/2009

"reduce those impediments to entrepreneurship", like what? Regulation? Has this guy been asleep for 5 years? Did he not understand that Bush's laissez-faire "see and hear no evil" approach made it easy for Wall St to manipulate the system and take down the entire economy? Good luck, Virginia. You'll need it if you elect this clown.

[Patrician]

02:28 PM on 06/30/2009

He can have Bush's economic record. I would be very frightened for our country if we had to go through another Bush economic plan. The huge debt from the illegal war combined with huge tax cuts for the very, very rich nearly broke us. I never feel safe, it seems, because just as we educate ourselves about a President's legacy, someone else--a lawmaker--comes on the scene and I realize they are still out there, those who would ruin this country.

[Bluedog12]

01:55 PM on 06/30/2009

What do youmean it'snot 2002?

[LORISNJ]

01:52 PM on 06/30/2009

I think he may have misstated his position on Bush...he wishes he had the profits Bush and his administration made from his economic policies not his economic record. It is a common mistake to make.

[dagnew]

01:45 PM on 06/30/2009

Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot........

[joe is in the room]

01:34 PM on 06/30/2009

Armed robbery could be considered "Economic Growth" if you were on the other side of the gun.