This is why Bush is fundamentally a terrible candidate, regardless of his political skills.
His brother's term was a disaster and almost universally seen negatively.
Bill Clinton's term was successful and generally seen positively.
A Bush vs. Clinton race demands, not just invites, that comparison. Maybe it isn't fatal, but I don't see how he survives that. And, if you're the moderate candidate and you don't have a strong electability argument, you're cooked.
Bush's approval ratings have been steadily improving since leaving office. It sounds to me like you are stuck in 2008... He is not the universally hated man he once was. I would provide a link to back up my assertions but I guess I need more posts for that so just google it for proof.
With ISIS and everything going on Bush's favorability will only improve as his actions in the middle east will appear more and more justified. Of course you and I know this is bullsh**t but the public is not you nor I.
Yup, because memory fades... It has been eight years, we will not be debating Iraq... As much as I would like that to be the national conversation.
Yes, that will only occur on the Democratic side when the "true progressives" keep bringing it up in attempts to crucify Hillary again. Outside of the Code Pink/Daily Kos kooky constituencies and Atlas, Democratic primary voters are not going to care about it anymore.
As for George W. Bush's allegedly improving favorabilities, as has already been stated on here, that's only because he's been out of politics. Once the campaign gets into full mode, he will be brought back into the political spotlight and Jeb's opponents (on both sides) will constantly remind Americans why they all hated W so much and then his numbers will continue to decline to their normal levels.
I agree with the poster on here who said that the Clinton years are remembered fondly while the Bush years are like a recurring nightmare. It's going to be difficult for Jeb to effectively distance himself from his brother's disastrous presidency, meanwhile all the Republicans have on the Clinton years is Monica Lewinsky and if they try to blame Hillary for that, well it'll just add to their growing problem of winning the female vote. There's a reason why Bill Clinton was a rock star at the 2008 and 2012 DNCs and George W. Bush was absent from both RNCs.
