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Americans United for Change

The Bush Legacy Project. Americans United for Change. The Bush Legacy Project : Re-defining the Political Debate Between Right and Left. The Bush Legacy Project. From 1933 to the Mid 1970’s: Progressives were on Offense From the Mid 1970’s until recently: Progressives on Defense.

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Americans United for Change

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  1. The Bush Legacy Project Americans United for Change The Bush Legacy Project: Re-defining the Political Debate Between Right and Left

  2. The Bush Legacy Project • From 1933 to the Mid 1970’s: Progressives were on Offense • From the Mid 1970’s until recently: Progressives on Defense

  3. 2008 Presents us an Opportunity to: • Redefine the Political Debate • Move the Center in Our Direction • Define the Failures of Conservative/Bush Ideology The Bush Legacy Project

  4. Why is this Opportunity Different? • Bush’s Historically Low Job Approval • Conservatives unhappy with their Prez choices • 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

  5. The Bush Legacy project Lessons from the Reagan Legacy • In 1987, during Iran-Contra, Reagan’s 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

  6. 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 1990’s)

  7. The Bush Legacy Project Consequences of the Reagan Rebound (Cont.,) Legitimacy for GWB’s era of trickle down economics, budget deficits, degrading of government institutions (leading to cronyism and incompetence -- FEMA/Katrina) and neo-conservative foreign policy

  8. 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 40’s as opposed to the mid 60’s? Inquiring Minds…

  9. 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 • I’m Reagan’s 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

  10. The Bush Legacy Project Goal: No “REAGAN” REBOUND FOR BUSH!! • Keep Bush’s and conservative failures in the headlines and remind Americans why they have lost faith in Bush/agenda. • Tie Bush/agenda to the conservative/Republican brand and its followers. • Highlight how Bush’s 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.

  11. 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

  12. Major Elements of the Campaign Under Discussion (cont’d): The Bush Legacy Project • 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

  13. 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)

  14. The Bush Legacy Project Americans United for Change The Bush Legacy Project: Re-defining the Political Debate Between Right and Left

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