A George W. Bush comeback? Dream on. - By Joan Walsh

[DonViejo]

Dream on. But he has to try: His party and his brother Jeb are hurt by their last president hiding as if in shame

BY JOAN WALSH

Americans are a forgiving and forgetting people. That’s all that can explain the rise in George W. Bush’s approval ratings since he left office in 2009. Back then, he had the lowest approval rating of any departing president since Richard Nixon (who departed in a helicopter after resigning in disgrace) with a 33 percent overall approval rating. Only 24 percent of Americans approved of his handling of the recession-bound economy. As recently as last November’s election, more voters blamed Bush than President Obama for the country’s ongoing economic woes.

Now, on the eve of the opening of his presidential library and an apparent Bush-rehabilitation tour, starting with a Diane Sawyer interview Wednesday night, Bush faces a kinder, gentler American public. According to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, Americans are now split on the former president, with 47 percent approving of his performance and 50 percent disapproving. He’s still underwater, as the pollsters say, but that’s not a bad jump in four years. He’s even climbed on the economy, with 43 percent now approving of the job he did, while 57 percent stayed tethered to the reality-based community, and still disapprove.

Bush has even climbed among Democrats: 25 percent approve of the job he did, up from only 6 percent when he left office. (Who says Democrats are haters?)

What’s going on? And will Bush’s comeback tour bump his numbers up even more, which would be some rare good news for the broken, embattled Republican Party?

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/24/a_george_w_bush_comeback/

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. Memories are short?

The eight years he was in office were freakin' miserable for everybody but the 1% and the warmongers (though the warmongers fell out of favor after the first term). Having President Obama in the WH after all that was like a breath of fresh air. Too bad the Republicans have managed to continue to remain electorally viable enough to continue throwing sand in the gears of recovering from the mess that Bush and his (mis-)administration created.