Compassionate + Conservative = Liberal

As G.W.Bush's first term has entered its second half, one would think that the administration would be looking to shore up its support for the run for a second term. Looking at recent events through that prism, one can only think that Bush believes that the margin of victory will come from Democrat voters. He is certainly alienating many conservative voters. I wonder if he can win without us, but he is surely making it difficult for conservatives to support him. While I can't see many of us voting for a Donkey, he is positioning himself to the left of almost half of the Democrat pretenders to the throne. Some examples:

Afghanistan - His support for the people of Afghanistan is embarrassingly absent. Most of the Donk candidates are ahead of him on the issue of supporting the Afghan people and the Karzai government. Beyond any compassion for the Afghan people, how about the Americans who are adversely affected by the bumper crop of Afghan Opium that this neglect is helping to cause? A new growing season has begun, and reports indicate that the new harvest will bring an unprecedented crop. This will translate into even lower prices and higher quality in American Heroin markets. Bush must shoulder at least some of the blame for this. Since Heroin is one of the drugs that almost everyone agrees is worth banning, the Donks get ahead of him on the drug war as well.

Assault Weapons Ban - in contravention of statements he made on the stump last campaign, he has supported an extention of the so-called Assault Weapons Ban. It seems that the Senate will bail him out on this one, but this was not clear until the last few days. Had he signed the extention, the NRA vote would have fled. This could still happen.

Iraq - As his father learned, the bump a pol gets for winning a war is fleeting. Now Bush and Co. must win the peace. Appointing incompetents like Margaret Tutweiler to run things, and making decisions like hiring Baath party holdovers places the looming failure of the peace squarely in Bush's lap.

Israel - The "Road Map" fiasco is proving to be even less useful a path to peace than either Oslo or Camp David... neither the Jews or the Jew-haters are happy with this attempt. When no results are forthcoming, Bush will have little support from either side. Funny, but Bush seemed well on his way to garnering a significant part of the Jewish vote. Now he looks like another pol who is willing to sell out the Jews for a tiny political advantage. At best, he is paying a debt to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah with Jewish blood. He will need a miracle in the holy land if he expects to see any Jewish votes.

I could go on, but it is too painful. After only a third of the alphabet, Bush's prospects for re-election seem dim. Of course spinners for both sides will not admit it, but it will take some major mistakes by the Donkeys for Bush to have much of a chance. It is early, though. Arafat could die, the NRA might endorse him, Karzai could just possibly survive, and the DEA could win the war on (some) drugs. And Chickens could grow lips.