By Ezra
In comments, Iron Lungfish writes:
If the bar's fallen so low that Huckabee is now the standard for what makes a grownup Republican, this is a hideous portent that there are no potentially tolerable Republican presidents.
But were there ever? We always say that the Republivan party of today is so much more unacceptable than the Republican party of yore, but I can't think of a single Republican president who Democrats held anything than broad antipathy for. Eisenhower was neither Republican and Democrat, he was some fourth-dimension political being who simply acted the steward as America normalized after World War II. But his VP? Well now...
The campaigns against Eisenhower, particularly against his reelection, were largely conducted against Nixon, the devilish lackey who was a heartbeat from the presidency. Democrats hated Nixon. Even Bush bashing looks light compared to the scorn, distaste, and revulsion we felt for the guy. Now, of course, we look back and wonder why we despised him so much. He created the EPA! Increased health spending! Enlarged Social Security! And if you switch out Bush for Nixon, EPA for Medicare Drug Benefit, and health spending for education spending, you get a taste of what the future liberal revisions of the Bush presidency may look like.
