Will Bush be a Real Drag? If so, by How Much?

I just thought I'd throw this out there as a separate thread in this forum, since there seems to be a great number of conservative thinkers adding great information here.

How much will President Bush's record on Iraq affect a Republican (or any other conservative-leaning) candidate for the Presidency going into 2008?

I know a lot depends on will be going on on the ground in the days leading up to election day, which is stilll far away. A huge shift toward success would certainly upset the apple cart.

But if conditions continue as now (more or less a stalemate), will it be impossible for a Republican to win? Even with such a non-traditional Republican such as Rudy Giuliani who seems to be leading in the polls? From what's going on now, I think the next election will be the Democrats' to lose, but of course they've shown a great ability to lose elections they should have won in the past before.

Personally, I don't count the Republicans out yet, even if things don't appreciably get better in Iraq, but if things continue south, practically any Democrat would have the edge.

[edit on 2/28/2007 by djohnsto77]

The answers can be found on this thread .
I need to thank Justin Oldham and anyone else who contributed to the above thread much of the conclusions reached below aren't mine even if I agree with them.

In summary.
There is no way to seperate Bush from the war in Iraq.
Any Democrat who didn't vote for the war in Iraq may have an edge depending on who the Republicans nominate .
The war in Iraq is at the heart of any candidates campaign from a Republican perspective in order to get elected a candidate must speak out against the war in Iraq and the Bush admin on some level. McCain has started to do this recently. The Republican spin machine will ensure that McCain wont be seen by his supporters as a flip flop.

As for Rudy if Republicans aren't smart enough to nominate him then they don't deserve to win in 2008. The 2008 election is there for the Democrats to lose which they may well do. Bear in mind that the Democrats wont have there anti Bush platform and being President consist of doing more then just dealing with Iraq.
In the last seven years the Democrats have yet to define what they stand for so why would they start now ?

End of summary.

On a personal level I have more respect for those who stand by there decisions. Standing by the decision to support the war in Iraq wont attract any Democrat voters or those who opposed the war from the outset. Politics is a sad game.

[edit on 28-2-2007 by xpert11]