(2004-09-01) Ferguson Bush Bad For Gop

Niall Ferguson wonders whether the re-election of George W Bush would be bad for the Republican Party, mirroring the destructive effects of John Major's second term as British Prime Minister. If he secures re-election, President Bush can be relied upon to press on with a foreign policy based on pre-emptive military force, to ignore the impending fiscal crisis (on the Cheney principle that "deficits don't matter") and to pursue socially conservative objectives like the constitutional ban on Gay Marriage. Anyone who thinks this combination will serve to maintain Republican unity is dreaming; it will do the opposite. Meanwhile, the Dems will have another four years to figure out what the Labour Party finally figured out: It's the candidate, stupid.

Nov'2008 update: well, that was prescient, eh?