411 March Politics Round Table: Grading the Republicans

Posted by Jason Easley on 03.29.2007

Spring is the time of year, when the thoughts of young men turn to....grading politicians? Join the Politics Zone guys as they evaluate how 5 top Republicans have done this year. George Bush, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani are just three of the GOP stalwarts who are placed under the spotlight.

George W. Bush

Brandon Crow: C-. Personally, I'd love to give this guy the continuous grade of F, but that would be purely personal (based slightly on political actions as well). But speaking as an "as objective a political observer" as I can be, Bush is hovering at that C-.Sure, the trifecta of scandals (Walter Reed, FBI abuse of Patriot Act and Alberto Gonzales' mishandling of US Attorneys) are powerful persuasions towards that F grade, not to mention a discerning mark on this man's supposed "moral clarity." But let's be honest, this man is and has been headed down the long road of lame-duckness for a while now. I'd hate to dismiss it thusly, but there's almost nothing this guy can do now that would register as an "Oh My God!" moment anymore, unless Chuck Hagel and some Democrats have their way… I think the public has just tuned him out, especially since it's been the same crackly, annoying broken-jukebox tune for six straight years.

Ray Church: F.Regularly fails to meet deadlines for submission of work, if submitted at all (capturing Osama Bin Laden, proving adequate troop support). Work often appears to be done in other people's handwriting (we suspect Karl Rove). Assignments lack appropriate referencing, and sometimes references are entirely fictional (case for war in Iraq, fake newsmen). When work is submitted, it is often incomplete and lacks the support needed to justify it (No Child Left Behind, Hurricane Katrina). Many of the assertions made in his work run contrary to the evidence he provides (Brownie, Gonzalez, Rumsfeld, "I never said Osama was not important")... I have no hesitation in failing this student outright.

Josh White: Cish. I don't think that President Bush has done much that would give him high marks, but I do think that he hasn't done enough to merit a D or F. I think that the success of the surge keeps Mr. Bush above failing all by itself. He has been an average president. Therefore he gets a C.

Dan Martin: F. The situation in Iraq is far from what his experts predicted. The plan was to have 5000 troops in Iraq in 2007. Well he has 165,000 above that number. The sleaze factor of scandals and lying within his administration are not helping either.

Ray Robison: Not to be the "What have you done for me lately" guy, but he hasn't done much. I have to give him a C for the last year. Throwing Rumsfeld under the bus was a disaster. If he believed in Rummy, he should have stuck by him. If not, he should have let him go before the congressional elections since Rummy was a liability to republicans by that point. His weakness on immigration and kowtowing to the Mexican government has gotten embarrassing. The only thing that saves him from an F is his steadfastness against the global Islamic jihad movement.

Matthew D.S.: F. who could expect anything else? Mr. Bush has stood by two failures - Mr. Rumsfeld, and Mr. Gonzalez, and has acted - and will only act in the case of the latter - when his hand is pushed. It took the decimation of the Republican Congress in the 2006 elections to get rid of Rumsfeld, and I believe it's only a matter of time for Mr. Gonzalez. Iraq will be the festering sore on this President's legacy, as countless Iraqis continue to die, and as more US soldiers come back in flag draped boxes. I feel sad for Mr. Bush as a person, because not only will he go down as the most protested against person, coupled with his policies, in the history of Earth, but also as one of the worst Presidents in history.

Brian McLain: F. Anybody who knows me will know my answer to this one. With a President who can't seem to get a handle as to what he wants to believe except that Congress, the Judiciary and the Constitution are all impediments to getting things he wants done. As far as I'm concerned, he's an enemy of the Republic and should have been impeached a long time ago.

Jason Easley: D. I think Bush has already had a bad year, and it is only April. His steadfast belief in victory in Iraq has become an absurd comedy. It can't get much worse than being treated as if you are already irrelevant when you still have 2 years left in your term, but that is what W. has been reduced to. The hero president after 9/11 is now a shell of a man isolated from his constituents because they no longer believe in his war. Ladies and Gents, Bush is the Republican LBJ.

Average Grade: D

John McCain

Brandon Crow: F. I can't, in good conscience, bring myself to give him any other grade but an F. Let's start with the tremendous tumble he's taken in image and credibility as a "maverick," "independent" or "straight talker." In 2000, this man was the darling of the media, and nearly that in both political parties. Had it not been the classic Rovian tactic which derailed him in South Carolina, he would have won the nomination and quite possibly the presidency. I might have voted for "McCain 2000" over Gore.

Now let's talk about his self-inflicted, continual tumble. I cannot fathom, for the life of me, why he would keep aligning himself with the most extreme of the nut job right. He may be courting their vote for winning the primary, but he is alienating the hell out of everyone else. He is no longer seen as a maverick or a straight talker. Last weekend, I got an email from his campaign that said "The Straight Talk Express is Back!" and I just laughed. Then I deleted the email. While I might have voted for McCain 2000 over Gore, there is hardly anyone I wouldn't vote for over McCain 2008.

Ray Church: D. (OK, I'm giving up trying to disguise this as a school report) John has fallen in with the wrong crowd. Occasionally he can be very lucid about his positions, such as his appearance on Letterman (which he had to apologize to Cheney for). Most of the time, however, he more simply appears to be toadying to the "powers that be" in the GOP election, like Clinton, he's trying to be something he's not. In Clinton's case that means trying to be a "liberal", in McCain's case it means trying to be a "conservative". A real pity, this is the guy who could have been leading America in 2001. Now, it looks like he's being lead.

Josh White: B- I think that McCain has lost some of his charm. The Straight Talk Express 2 seems kinda lame. But I like that he hasn't wavered on his support for the surge. And he really does love his country. But I can't give him much more than that so far this year.

Dan Martin: C. McCain's fate is tied to George W. and the War in Iraq in ways that the 2000 straight talker never dreamed. He should at least be the form horse for the Republicans and his form is being undermined by a mayor?

Ray Robison: Supports the war effort, but spends too much time kissing media ass. C+. He gets a + for finally taking the media to task over its' Iraq war coverage.

Matthew D.S.: A. anyone who announces their candidacy on Letterman is okay by me.

Brian McLain: D. SELL OUT! SELL OUT! HE'S A FREAKING SELL OUT! Okay, maybe not that bad, but the man is pandering to the wrong group of people. I would like to see a return of the old, not as scary Conservative movement, not the Neo-Jacobin group that Bush and the right wing elite have been leading for the past 8 years. When McCain started agreeing with Bush, he lost a lot in my book. When he started doing it to win votes and keep the Neo-Cons on top, of that completely lost me on him.

Jason Easley: F. And the Al Gore Award for most likely to kill his own campaign with horrible decision making goes to…..John McCain for his complete personality transplant into a GOP lackey. McCain also wins the award for seemingly having no clue that Americans don't like the Iraq war, and believing that hopping on the bus again will revive his campaign. John McCain should have been the odds on pick to win it all in '08, but he has under minded himself at every turn.

Average Grade: C

Rudy Giuliani

Brandon Crow: B+ You've got to give the man credit. He is milking the 9/11 tragedy to death for his own political gain. The only man I can think of whose done this more is Bush. Okay, maybe Cheney. And Rove. And Rumsfeld. Oh, hell, the whole lot of them. Anyway, Giuliani has used "his leadership" during an event six years ago to propel himself into a formidable run for president. You've gotta give the man some props.

Ray Church: C+ I think Rudy gets a free pass for his actions in 9/11, which may come back to haunt him. Although he was certainly a leader, I wouldn't say he was necessarily a good decision maker, which has lead to his problems with the firefighters union. He seems to be facing down questions of his personal demons at the moment, which quite frankly is less important than the questions he will have to face over his time as mayor of New York, when names like Bernie Kerik and issues like immigration will be much harder for him to deal with. Still, he's weathering the storm so far.

Josh White: B. I think that Crow is partially right when it comes to the milkage of 9/11/01. He became incredibly popular because of 9/11/01, but he won't get elected only because of it. He showed how well he can lead in a crisis, but that won't help him with the far right social conservatives. He needs to do some 'splaining. So while he's doing pretty good. He has a nice uphill fight. B baby, B.

Dan Martin: B. If the polls are to be believed he is in the lead. Not sure how because a pro-gun control, pro-choice, pro-gay rights Republican would be a major shift in national nomination patterns. Still America's Mayor is making it work to this point. Like Hillary I could see his poll numbers deteriorate quickly.

Ray Robison: B+ I am probably a little more friendly to him because I am not a true conservative and I happen to agree with him on many social issues.

Matthew D.S.: (Editor's Note: Matt is Canadian and thus Rudy is not his mayor).

Brain McLain: C...so far. This guy I like. He's got a good head, he's got some monsters under his bed, but he is clear in what he wants and is pandering to the right people so far as I'm concerned. My issue with him? He was an executive official...but that was of a city, not a state, not a country. I don't think he really has the worldly knowledge to move forward with a Presidential run. Run for governor of New York, spend a term in office, and then try again, Rudy. Look forward to seeing you.

Jason Easley: B. Hillary Clinton is more of a Republican than Rudy is. Rudy is the biggest fraud in the campaign, and once his GOP primary opponents start pointing out, his liberal ways, Rudy will fall like a rock. Hard core conservatives should be frightened by the way liberals love this guy. Giuliani will never win in the Bible Belt, and the only he wins the general election is if he is facing off against Hillary. Negative campaigning by his opponents will be the undoing of Rudy Giuliani.

Average Grade: B

Trent Lott

Brandon Crow :Who? I don't think he's been too consequential. No grade.

Ray Church: C- Ummm, he hasn't endorsed Strom Thurgood since he came back... Apart from that he has avoided the press by being minority whip rather than majority whip, which means he slipped by with some gaffs that few people noticed, like when supporting executive privilege now but opposing it when Clinton was President, and his wholesale dismissal of Global Warming. Still, he hasn't said anything too inflammatory...

Josh White: N/A.

Dan Martin: B. He has pulled a political Lazarus, but it remains to be seen if he can continue to reclaim lost territory among his senate colleagues. Still he likely contributed to Bill Frist not running for president. For that, I thank him.

Ray Robison: D- I am really ready for a new generation of leading Republicans. These guys had their shot and it is time for the party to move on.

Matthew D.S.: Don't know much about what this Republican doofus has done, and I frankly don't care. No grade.

Brain McLain: F. It's Trent Lott....nuff said. He's a corrupt piece of trash that does not deserve to represent even pieces of trash.

Jason Easley: B-. Anyone who says they can't grade Lott needs to start paying a little more attention. One of the reasons why Harry Reid is looking so bad is because Lott is a master at using his powers as minority leader. Lott has made life tough for the Democrats at every turn. He has been able to hold the Senate Republicans together on Iraq, but his real test will come as the 2008 elections start looming, and GOP war supporters are trailing at the polls again.

Average Grade: C-

Alberto Gonzales

Brandon Crow: F. If there were such a grade, that's what this moron would get. And he would have earned every bit of it. Here's an editorial posted on the McClatchy-Tribune News Service that I feel pretty much sums of Gonzales and the grade: Gonzales has done more than politicize the office - his predecessors did that, too. Gonzales has made partisanship primary, acting as though he's still the lawyer for the president instead of the nation, putting politics and personal loyalties above the law.

Among the most serious recent revelations about Gonzalez was the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, including one in Grand Rapids, for what appears to have been a coordinated campaign by the White House and Justice Department. Dismissing prosecutors for political cause is an abuse of power even more troubling because of a provision added to the Patriot Act - which Congress should remove - allowing their replacements to serve indefinitely without Senate confirmation.

Gonzales has also shown a dangerous disregard for civil liberties. Under his watch, the FBI improperly, and sometimes illegally, used the Patriot Act to pry out personal information and records with security letters, or special warrants issued without judicial approval. The attorney general has lost the confidence of the American people and even some Senate Republicans. His lack of candor has done nothing to renew it. While accepting responsibility for mishandling the firings, he suggested he didn't know. In doing so, he raised questions not only about his judgment but also his competence and oversight. Gonzales now can best exercise the leadership he failed to show in office by leaving it."

Ray Church: F. Sorry, this guy should just be expelled. The latest attorney scandal is actually the weakest of the three major scandals that he has been involved with (the other two, roving wiretaps and ignoring the Geneva Conventions), which is not to diminish how incredibly unethical this scandal is shaping up to be. High on the list would be Carol Lam, who was fired just as her investigation into Duke Cunningham was about to expand, Bud Cummins, who was investigating Governor Matt Blunt, and Daniel Bogden, who was investigating Congressman Jim Gibbons on suspected bribery charges from a defense contractor. But that just pales in comparison to his rewriting of the "prisoner of war" provisions, which quite frankly is what lead to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

Josh White: N/A. I don't know enough about this whole Gonzales-gate. I'm pretty sure that none of it was illegal, just questionable.

Dan Martin: F. Is he an albatross for Bush? Not yet, but the scandal does nothing to help an administration that is a failure in the majority of the voters eyes. On the heels of the Scooter Libby conviction, this scandal is contributing to the notion that this White House lacks credibility.

Ray Robison: Gets a B. For all the democrat hyperbole, the truth is he is a good man, a nice guy, and competent. He may not be flashy and doesn't do TV well, but don't mix up character with media persona.

Matthew D.S.: E. his name is mud, his lacklustre handling of the scandal regarding the firing of eight (count 'em EIGHT) federal prosecutors has damaged his political capital; he is now a political liability. Just another dud in the White House, this Attorney General is just generally stupid.

Brian McLain: F.Negative number one....he backs the President's unconstitutional agendas, negative number two....he allows himself to take the bullet for the President when things go horribly wrong, when the President himself pretty much pulls him in front of him.

Jason Easley: F. I don't care if Al Gonzales rescues kittens from trees on the weekends, he is a terrible AG. At best he is just incompetent and has let the DOJ run amuck, at worst he has misused his powers to make the law mean what he thinks it should. Gonzales makes some long for the good old days of Ashcroft. UGH!!!

Average Grade: F

Tomorrow we grade the Democrats. Those up for evaluation include Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi. See you then.