Yesterday’s Washington Post reported that for the GOP candidates, “the unspoken problem is the same: how to establish a clear break from the legacy of President Bush and his sagging poll numbers without alienating the party faithful.”

And while the top tier GOPiers have criticized Bush for not mobilizing “more troops for the invasion of Iraq” botching the response to Hurricane Katrina, supporting comprehensive immigration reform, and failing to “veto spending bills,” most Republican presidential hopefuls disagree with Bush in name only.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani echo Bush’s failed approach to foreign and economic policies.

- Support the war in Iraq and the surge strategy:

Romney: “Well right now, I don’t have a different view than he [Bush] does with regards to the surge. I think the surge is the best course we have at this stage.” [This Week, 8/5/07]

McCain: “And I can assure you, it’s more than apparent, it [the surge] is working and we have to rally the American people. [FNC GOP Debate, 9/5/07]

Giuliani: “Success or failure in Iraq is not a matter of partisan politics but a matter of national Security…In that spirit, I support the president’s increase in troops.” [CNN, 1/10/07]

- Support keeping the military option on the table in Iran:

Romney: “You do not rule out a military strike…we must consider our military options.” [National Journal, 9/28/07]

McCain: “There’s only one thing worse than the United States exercising the military option, that is, a nuclear-armed Iran…Now, the military option is the last option but cannot be taken off of the table…We are tied up to a great degree. But that does not mean that we don’t have military options.” [Agence France Presse, 1/15/06]

Giuliani: “America has to have a clear position. The position should be that Iran is not going to be allowed to go nuclear. Senator McCain put it very well a few months ago. He said it would be very, very dangerous to take military action against Iran, but it would be even more dangerous if Iran were a nuclear power. And I think a president has to make that very clear.”" [FNC GOP Debate, 9/5/07]

- Support the ill-conceived tax cuts for the rich:

Romney: “If the Bush tax cuts are allowed the expire, and that would result in a massive tax increase, why you’d see that go up and up that would hurt our economy… it’s a bad idea.” [CNBC, 2/7/07]

McCain: “I think it’s very clear that the increase in revenue that we’ve experienced is directly related to the tax cuts that were enacted and they need to be made permanent, rather than the family budgets and businesses being uncertain about their future.” [FNC GOP Debate, 9/5/07]

Giuliani: “I made supply-side economics work in a city that didn’t understand it. And I ended up having a very positive impact on the economy of the city as the result of that.” [FNC GOP Debate, 9/5/07]

This entry was is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.