A prominent member of Bush’s inner sanctum, chief campaign strategist for the 2004 presidential election Matthew Dowd, has broken with Bush, saying in a New York Times interview that his faith in Dubya was misplaced.
He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.
This is the guy who created the flip-flopper slogan against Kerry. He’d been with Bush since ‘99. “I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things. I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”
The article goes on to describe Dowd as melancholy and subdued, as if disillusioned.
He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.
Full article here.
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