(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot moderator democratic underground)
Albatross In Chief
by E.J. Dionne, Jr.
The question of how to talk about the Bush presidency is wreaking serious havoc on the Republican primaries.
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The turmoil in the Republican presidential contest, which seems to produce a new front-runner every month, owes to President Bush's unpopularity and the fact that even members of his own party want to turn the page on the last seven years.
John McCain's victory in last week's New Hampshire primary, which vaulted him to the lead nationally, was built in large part on anti-Bush votes.
Republican Mitt Romney is edging away from a strategy based on pure conservative orthodoxy, presenting himself instead as the true candidate of change.
"If ever there's been a time we needed change in Washington, it's now," Romney has been saying. He tries to minimize the fact that the capital whose habits he deplores has been dominated by George W. Bush. Yet the "Change Begins with Us" placards held aloft at recent Romney campaign rallies bear a striking graphic resemblance to those "Change We Can Believe In" posters that appear at Barack Obama's rallies.
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http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=d346005b-14ff-4026-97c8-23f984a4c810