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October 07, 2005
"Scandal" -- A Prescient Piece from Kevin Drum
About this time last year, when the presidential campaign was going hot and heavy and the outcome was far from clear, the Washington Monthly asked 16 writers from across the political spectrum to speculate on "What if President Bush Wins?", and what that would mean for the country.
He did, of course, win and now approaching a year into his second term, it is interesting to revisit these prognostications. One stands out.
Kevin Drum's prediction that scandal would be the operative word in a Bush second term has so far proved prescient indeed. From Abu Ghraib to the Rove/Plame investigation, to the recent indictment of top administration procurement officer David Savafian, to the new investigation of a White House-stationed Marine officer, to the ongoing Tom DeLay saga, scandal indeed is everywhere.
This climate of scandal, along with high gas prices, unease about the economy and health care costs, government bungling of Hurricane Katrina, and heartburn on the right over the Harriet Miers nomination, has taken a political toll on President Bush. His approval numbers, now at the lowest of his presidency, hover near those of a Watergate-damaged Nixon.
While one may feel a hint of schadenfreude watching Drum's prediction come true, far more pronounced here is a sense of worry and anxiety about the future in this great country. Things are just not right with America these days, and while relatively few may speak openly about it, people know it.
Posted by houtopia at October 7, 2005 08:37 AM