George W. Bush or Barack Obama?

[Reaganfan]

Here is my honest take on Bush, from a personal perspective.

In 2000, my entire immediate family was for George Bush. My mother was 32 years old, and was a fan of Reagan and loved George H.W. Bush when she was my age. I actually have some memories of her being disappointed as Bill Clinton took office in 1993. She voted for Dole even though the talk was that Clinton would win easy, so 2000 was the first election I REALLY followed. My mother allowed me to miss an hour of school in the morning, November 7, 2000, so I could go into the voting booth with her and she allowed me to punch the ballot for Bush (Apparently a 12-year old in Ohio does it better than Seniors in Florida).

I never really considered the prospect of Bush losing, which looking back, was a bad thing because had he not been elected, my 12 year old heart would have been greatly crushed. I was fed by the fact that all you heard about in the media was Bush, and the fact that since 4th grade, he had been ahead, sometimes massively, in polls.

Examples:

May 1998
USA Today/CNN/Gallup

Bush: 50%
Gore: 46%

September 1999
ABC News/Washington Post

Bush: 56%
Gore: 37%

June 2000
Times Poll


Bush: 50%
Gore: 40%

So in 4th grade, we would discuss in class the likelihood that George W. Bush would be the next President. Then in 5th grade, by September 1999 in Student Council, I knew Bush was almost 20 points ahead of Gore. Then throughout 2000, Bush usually held an edge, sometimes significantly.

It really wasn't until the final months that Gore ended up showing much stronger than anybody thought. I remember Bush campaigning in New Jersey and putting money in California and leading in Illinois and Delaware at times. It was insane. Bush even took a "day off" from campaigning in the final week. A very dangerous strategy.

Anyways, he won and took office. I remember taping the inauguration on NBC (I have the tape and will YouTube it soon, BTW) and my mother came home from work that Saturday and I remember saying, "So I taped President Bush for you. It was the first time I said the name President Bush to her and she smiled. It was great.

Well, the rest of 2001 flew by until September 11th. I remember watching NBC in my Middle School class and wondering what my parents were thinking, ect. Then I thought about Bush and Cheney and to be honest, I don't remember thinking much about politics between the inauguration and 9/11. After that, Bush's support from me only solidified throughout the first term, and then he got re-elected. After that, Iraq got worse, the economy went south, and the 2008 election began almost instantly and my own life got busier. So I think I judge Bush more on the first term and reaction to 9/11 more than anything else.

[Reaganfan]

Say what you want about Bush, but at least he had leadership, a very important characteristic for a president.

Obama has gone AWOL on almost all the big issues. His administration thinks "leading from behind" is a positive trait. I despair, sometimes....

Obama's White House is very Nixonian to me. Lots of Congressional issues, behind the scenes with occasional press conferences, some Rose Garden discussions, barely any Oval Office addresses.

Bush's White House, despite what some say, was more transparent in my opinion. Bush was always out there saying, "I am the decider" which was the clearest leadership seen from a President since Truman said, "The buck stops here."