Small-government conservatives have many reasons to be unhappy with the Bush presidency, but that Bush hasn't done what he believes is right is distinctly not one of them. In fact, Bush has been remarkable for the number of times he's marched against the political wind:
Social Security privatization, immigration liberalization and the continuation of the
Iraq war are just a few examples.
Where he's gone against conservative principles is in areas where he simply doesn't have any conservative principles. For a man who came into office without a foreign policy, Bush is uniquely unengaged in domestic policy.
He sold-out small-government values on education in his first major bill as president because he really doesn't believe the government is the problem in public schools -- he thinks the federal government just needs to enforce stricter standards.
He gave free-market health-care reform short shrift and signed the Medicare prescription-drug bill because he didn't see anything particularly wrong with massively expanding the size of the welfare state.
He signed off on pork-filled highway and farm bills because reducing pork has never been a priority in his administration.
These aren't moral failings, or a failure to stand up for what he believes in. He simply doesn't believe in a number of principles that used to define conservatism.
Read the whole thing.
Bush's resolve is something I've commented on before:
...this resolve on the part of President Bush - this "stick to my guns" mentality - is a mark of true leadership, and is a refreshing breath of fresh air after nearly a decade of Bill Clinton's rule-by-opinion-poll approach to leadership.
Public opinion is a fickle thing. We are very much a "what have you done for me lately" culture here in America, yet our leaders cannot approach the offices they hold with nearly such a cavalier attitude. They make decisions that can impact both our nation and the world for decades to come. . . .
Obviously, our leaders should be cognizant of the ebb and tide of public opinion...but it is foolish to expect them to rule based upon it. The polls that matter to our politicians should be the official ones that include all Americans and put leaders in office or cast them out of office, not those that are done by professional pollsters and only include a thousand or so Americans who still have landlines and are willing to take 15 minutes out of their day to answer questions for a stranger on the phone.
Despite the rantings of the insane left, Bush is no hard-core conservative. Truth be told, he's quite moderate on a number of domestic issues as indicated above. The fact that he was just barely elected in 2000 (an election in which this budding, still politically naive conservative voted for Al Gore) is, I think, a testament to just how wishy washy he is when it comes to core conservative ideals.
What has changed between 2000 and 2006 to make Bush's critics think of him as an "arch conservative" is 9/11, the war on terror and the fact that Democrats (even their most pro-war candidates) just can't be taken seriously on national security. Had 9/11 not happened Bush would simply be a moderate, middle-of-the-road President.
Which is exactly what he campaigned as, outside of some lipservice paid to small-government conservatism.