Miss Me Yet?

The billboards are going up all over and related merchandise cannot stay on the shelves in some parts of the country. What is so popular? An image of a cheerful, smiling George W. Bush beside the slogan "Miss me yet?

It seems like so long ago that Democrats basked in the glow of poor poll numbers. They loved to hate Bush. They ignored the successes in homeland security, diplomacy, and a strong economy for much of his presidency and focused on what they didn't like, his down home Middle American personality. They hated that, and by extension hated us for liking him.

The smile in that picture is poignant. It reminds us of a time when our home values were rising, our stocks were in good shape, and we had confidence that the government had no intention of taking too much of our hard earned money. We all felt that way five years ago, at least about our prospects as individuals and as a prosperous economy.

The economic slump has been upon us now for years. The Fed tells us it is recovering, but jobless numbers either remain the same or get worse depending on who you are. Meanwhile Obama has destroyed the hard earned respect Bush created in the world while spending way too much of our money, demanding more in taxes from almost all of us, and making us subservient through debt to our ideological enemies. What has Obama done that inspires hope or confidence? Jack squat.

The unthinkable only a year ago is now being openly debated at CPAC. Discussions are taking place in the serious media about a presidential run by Dick Cheney. I cannot imagine a more difficult candidate to sell. He is opinionated, abrasive, and has a perpetually cocky look on his face. His speeches are blunt, honest, and have zero finesse by design. In other words Cheney is the kind of person that we claim we want as president, but never elect.

Why are people talking like this? Because we do miss the Bush years. We want the confident and strong America that he always talked about. We would like to have that without the tendency towards government solutions that Bush all too often embraced. We have also seen the alternative, a country led by incompetent and arrogant left wingers hell bent on driving us over a cliff despite public outrage. People are also remembering that times started going tough when the Democrats took Congress. Cheney is the most visible of the former administration.

Dick Cheney as president? He is not my first choice personally, despite the fact that I have mentioned him twice in the past week. Then again, I am not sure who my first choice is. That may be the other opening Cheney needs if he intends to run.