If you previously voted for Bush, would you have voted for him again?

Yeah, I'd vote for him again ... If I were a "terrorist". In the words of Osama Bin laden-

"We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/01/binladen.tape/index.html

Only terrorists would want to bankrupt the U.S

Okay so..... you voted for him before?

I was kind of hoping to keep the snark to a minimum here. Maybe if you want to follow the thread and you weren't really someone who voted for Bush you could try tagging the thread so it would show up in your short list of stuff to look at.

I posed this question to a couple of friends who had voted for Bush in the previous two elections and they were unable to give a quick answer saying they had to think about it.

Ok, void my comment above.

Oh god no. I did vote for him once (help me god, I'm going to hell for it) and I wouldn't do it again. No way, no how.

I voted for Bush the first time because I thought he was the best choice. I voted for him the second time, not because I felt he was the best choice, but because I just could not have looked myself in the mirror had I voted for Kerry.

Would I have voted for him this time? I seriously doubt that I would have if for no other reason than I believe it was time to move along to someone else. I think 8 years is enough to have any politician in office. I think we as a country would be much better off if all of our elected officials were restricted to 8 years in a particular office. Maybe then they would concentrate on what is best for the country as opposed to what is best to get them re-elected. But that is for another thread I guess.

Oh, and for the record, had it been Bush vs Obama, I would have voted 3rd party. Either that or I would have written in my name. I've always wanted to claim to have received 1 vote for president of the US.

But that's exactly what Obama is going to do to America.
O boy is going to bleed America to the point of bankruptcy.

That's sort of where I was CR. I think President Bush was too much of a disappointment to many of us on too many issues to be deserving of another term. So I would not have voted for him in the primaries for sure. I don't think John McCain would have been a whole lot better, but I think he might have disappointed us in different areas than President Bush disappointed us? And he might have been a pleasant surprise and a really great President too.

Toward the end of the primaries, I was supporting Hillary as a better choice than Obama though I had pretty much equal confidence in both and equal complaints about both, but in different areas.

But I think national security is a higher priority than global warming issues for instance, and I think the overall economy is more important than immediate repair of social security, etc.--in other words, I pay attention to most issues but I do prioritize them in their importance for me.

For that reason, had the election been between President Bush and Senator Obama, I think I would have marked the square for Bush. I believe as bad as he has been, he has the more correct view of both national security and the economy. I voted for McCain for the same reason even though he was by far not my choice to be the GOP candidate.

Nevertheless, I certainly feel no animosity toward Barack Obama and I continue to hold out hope that he will be a most pleasant surprise and will prove to be the best choice for our time. He will have my full support when I can in good conscience support him. And, as I have done with all our Presidents, I will oppose and criticize when I cannot in good conscience support what he proposes.

Thanks Bella, CoastalRat and Foxfyre for your replies.

I think that it is really interesting that I've yet to come across anyone who said "Certainly I would have voted for him again."

Everyone seems to have been ready for new ideas -- that's probably what swept Obama into the White House.

Regarding disappointment I think there is a stunning amount of naivete among the Obama "true believers" (these being the people who write a lot of letters to the editor of my local paper). People were aghast that he chose Rick Warren to speak, that he was going to have a prayer, that he used a Bible, blahblahblah, they were SO disappointed. I wonder what the reaction will be when something really serious comes along to disappoint them.

I like Obama but I don't doubt that something will come along to disappoint us. Nobody agrees with every single thing any president does.

The term limit thing is interesting too. Do you think that during the last four years that Bush was really always doing what he thought was in the best interest of the American people?

I've thought about that a lot Boomer, and for the most part, I think President Bush was doing the best that he knew how to do for the American people under the conditions under which he had to do that. So do I think he supported 100% everything he signed into law? No I do not.

Do I think he made the right decision in every case or was correct in every issue that he favored and pushed? No I do not.

Do I think he was competent in carrying out all of his duties? No I do not.

Do I think he settled for the less bad of two evils because he thought any alternative would be worse? I think he did that a number of times and caught sh*t from me and a lot of other folks as a result of it when we thought he should have taken a more forceful lead or been more clear in his objections or when he failed to act as we thought he should have done.

But I think his heart has truly been in the right place as much as we can expect of any person and I do respect him as a person who truly wanted to do the right thing more than he wanted to be seen as right.

Oh and as an addendum:

Contrary to what some of his critics want to believe, I also think he was competent at many things and that he did get a lot of things right.

Thanks Foxfyre.

I've been thinking about your answer for a while and realize that I probably would have said the same thing about Bill Clinton, despite having been disgruntled with his presidency.