Unfortunately, electing a president doesn't come with a lemon law clause. Short of an impeachment (hardly a likely scenario), we are stuck with nearly two more stultifying years of the most inept, corrupt and arrogant administration in recent US history. Those of us who knew what lay in store after the 2000 election and shuddered in fear, grit our teeth, scream at our TVs and vent on our blogs. But at least we know we were right. The situation is more pathetic for those who were Bush's cheerleaders and instead of looking down contentedly from the shining city on the hill, find themselves staring bleakly out of the stinking garbage dump where Bush-Cheney-Rove have landed America. Many have come out publicly and expressed regret for having supported this administration. But for most of them, especially the chastened neo-con warmongers, the argument seems to be that the core philosophy of the administration was not wrong. It was how it was executed that was flawed. In other words, given half a chance, a willing political vehicle and a patient ear, they would again try to perpetuate their destructive world view of world domination through reckless use of military power. Very few have come out as true penitents and admitted that they made a fundamental mistake about Bush's character and it was wrong to have supported a man who was wholly unqualified for the job he now holds. Not many of Bush's supporters would admit that they put a crown on a mediocre fool and hoped he would rule as a shrewd and visionary statesman. Until now.
Matthew Dowd, a top Republican operative who crossed party lines to become an ardent Bush supporter in 1999, is a bit different. Dowd has admitted that he misjudged Bush. Blinded by "love" he saw traits in Bush's character that were really not there. Betrayed, he expresses much sorrow for the wasted hope and passion he harbored for his severely flawed and deficient object of love. So despondent and disillusioned is Dowd that like a true penitent, he is even considering going to a poor African or South American nation and spend time doing social work to make up for the harm he has done. So how did Dowd come to this painful realization? Some highlights of the events that knocked his idol off the pedestal that was built more on wishful thinking of the worshipper than any real building blocks of capability, sound judgement or moral fiber of the idol.
Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.
Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.
In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership. “I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”
In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him. He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.
Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.
“I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do — to me, by God; other people call it karma — is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”
The rest of Mr. Dowd's sorrowful mea culpa here.
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