Americans United for Change and Progressive Media Center

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Americans United for Changeand Progressive Media
Center
The Bush Legacy Project

• The Bush Legacy Project
• Re-defining the Political Debate and Driving a
  Stake in the Heart Of Conservatism

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The Bush Legacy Project

• From 1933 to the Mid 1970s Progressives were on
  Offense
• From the Mid 1970s until recently Progressives
  on Defense

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• 2008 Presents us an Opportunity to
• Redefine the Political Debate
• Move the Center in Our Direction
• Mortally Wound Conservative Ideology

The Bush Legacy Project
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Why is this Opportunity Different?

• Bushs Historically/Persistently Low Job Approval
• Conservatives have failed to coalesce around a
  prez candidate
• Unrest in Conservative Ranks/Think
  Tanks/Institutions
• Fraying of Republican Coalition
• Re-examination of What it Means to be a
  Conservative (i.e., pro-government
  conservatives, Huckabee populism)

The Bush Legacy Project
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The Bush Legacy project
Lessons from the Reagan Legacy

• In 1987, during Iran-Contra, Reagans Job
  Approval Fell to 42 percent
• Was 51 Percent by election day in 1988 when GHWB
  Beat Dukakis Handily
• Was 63 Percent When He Left Office Allowing
  Conservatives to Define His Presidency as An
  Example of Successful Conservative Governance

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The Bush Legacy Project

• Consequences of the Reagan Rebound

• The papering over of trickle down economics and
  disastrous budget policies
• The Reagan/Conservative Governance Myth that Gave
  us Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, the Republican
  Congress and the Contract with America (which put
  us on the defensive even while we had the WH in
  the 1990s)

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The Bush Legacy Project
Consequences of the Reagan Rebound (Cont.,)

• Legitimacy for GWBs era of trickle down
  economics, budget deficits, degrading of
  government institutions (leading to cronyism and
  incompetence -- FEMA/Katrina) and
  neo-conservative foreign policy

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The Bush Legacy Project

• What Would the World Look Like if Reagan had
  ended his Presidency with a Job Approval rating
  in the low to mid 40s as opposed to the mid
  60s? Inquiring Minds

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Instead, Remember These Headlines?

• Reaganism Makes a Great Theme For Election Season
  A Winner for GOP Sun-Sentinel, October 17,
  1994
• Reaganism Resurfaces Among GOP Buffalo
  News, October 5, 1994
• Im Reagans True Heir, Says Bush Daily
  News February 26, 2000
• Bush, McCain Tout Credentials as Rightful Reagan
  Heir
  Knight Ridder Washington Bureau,
  March 6, 2000

The Bush Legacy Project
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The Bush Legacy Project
Goal No REAGAN REBOUND FOR BUSH!!

• Keep Bushs approval rating low by reminding
  Americans why they have lost faith in
  Bush/agenda.
• Tie Bush/agenda to the conservative/Republican
  brand and its followers.
• Highlight how Bushs Conservative economic,
  social and foreign policy agenda has failed and
  shift the center of the political debate away
  from the Conservative frame to the Progressive.

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The Bush Legacy Project
Implications of Not Mounting a Campaign to Define
the Bush Legacy

• Conservatives/Candidates Cast Failures of Bush
  Presidency as the Failure of a Man, Not an
  Ideology
• Miss Opportunity to Define Differences Between Us
  and Them

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Implications of Not Mounting a Campaign to Define
the Bush Legacy

• Makes Bush Less of a Drag on Candidates, at Best,
  at worst, allows Rebound that Helps Candidates in
  Swing Areas and Helps Bush Raise (2002)
• Allows Conservative Philosophy to Live to Fight
  Another Day

The Bush Legacy Project
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The Bush Legacy Project
Major Elements of the Campaign Under Discussion

• Paid Advertising (SOTU, Super Bowl, Relevant
  Anniversaries)
• Field-Press Operations in Key States (Tying His
  Allies to Bush Legacy and to current fights in
  Congress)
• Coordinated Rapid Response Across Groups/Issues

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The Bush Legacy Project
Major Elements of the Campaign Under Discussion
(contd)

• Online Activity (sites/blogs devoted to Bush
  Legacy)
• Bush Legacy Bus (Rolling Museum to Bush Legacy
  with Stops in Key States, Political Conventions,
  etc.)
• A Bush Legacy Museum and/or Statue in Waco, TX
• Issue Forums, Historians Forum
• Bus ads, Billboards, Concerts, Contests

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The Bush Legacy Project
Implementation

• Regular Bush Rapid Response/Strategy Calls
• Group/Issue Leads
• Message Development
• Policy Research (Then/Now)
• Calendared Activity w/group-issue leads
• Development of Collateral Material/Iconic
  Symbols, Signs

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The Bush Legacy Project
The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown

• A Bush Boost? GOP Banks on It
• He's a poll cellar-dweller whom even GOP
  presidential candidates sneer at, but George W.
  Bush and some congressional backers see happy
  days for the prez this year. His fans have dubbed
  it his "legacy year," when they hope to lock in
  his achievements on the domestic front. Among the
  items Bush's GOP congressional allies
• want to work on this month continuing his tax
  cuts and extending the controversial No Child
  Left Behind Act. As for the war, they say, the
  news has been good, and Bushies believe that
  their guy will eventually get credit for opening
  the war on terrorism. But more immediately, they
  are predicting a remarkable poll shift to about
  45
• percent favorable by the time he leaves office
  next year. (US News and World Report, January 10,
  2008)

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The Bush Legacy Project

• LETS ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE

And Define the Bush Legacy for What it is
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The Bush Legacy
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The Bush Legacy