IN SEARCH OF REAL GOP

Polls show that most Americans view the Bush presidency as a dismal failure. Whether the president can redeem himself in the eyes of the public in his post-White House years remains to be seen. Of far more interest to Republicans seeking elected office is the way their party is now perceived by the public. They worry, correctly, that the GOP has been tainted by the Bush years.

In this election year, Democrats will try to paint all Republican candidates as inherently flawed and argue the proof lies in the Bush administration’s eight years in the White House. They will assert that Republican values, played out to their logical end, create unsustainable military commitments, soaring fuel prices, a bad economy, indifferent and ineffective government agencies, and a disregard for the long-held American beliefs on privacy, torture and government checks and balances. This may be politically effective, but it is hardly accurate.

Many of Mr. Bush’s wrong turns came not by adhering to the core principles of Republicanism, but by ignoring them. The most accurate assessment of the George W. Bush years can be made in one word: incompetent management.

When he was elected in 2000, Mr. Bush’s party controlled the Senate, House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. Rather than court public support for his policies, the Bush White House relied on a majority-plus-one strategy – if his initiatives could be passed, even by one vote, it was full steam ahead. No assessment was made on the long-term damage done to Mr. Bush’s moral authority as leader. The Sept. 11 attacks only further empowered the White House to act autocratically; and without having to compromise and temper its plans, the Bush administration’s mistakes were grand in scale.

A Republican president who held fast to GOP values and principles would have had a very different tenure. Republicans historically are wary of “foreign entanglements,” and even George W. Bush as a candidate spoke against the U.S. role as nation builder. So instead of invading Iraq, a core-value Republican might have pursued a narrowly defined mission in Afghanistan.

Republicans believe government that governs least governs best. Had that been valued by Mr. Bush, initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and other mandates on states would not have been created. And a core GOP value is limiting government spending; Mr. Bush will leave a record deficit, after inheriting a huge surplus.

Republicans historically valued conservation (remember Teddy Roosevelt, creator of the national park system?). A true conservative would have pushed car manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency before the oil crisis. And while Republicans believe market-based economies are the most efficient, many also believe government should not tilt the playing field in favor of some businesses, as the Bush administration has for many energy companies. Again, remember the first President Roosevelt, who battled monopolistic corporations.

And last, despite Mr. Bush making electoral hay in 2004 with the specter of gay marriage, Republicans generally believe government should stay out of people’s bedrooms.

The question the GOP must ask itself going forward is whether its core values are out of date, or right for the times.