Is Obama Bush II?

Obama pledged to end the Iraq War. He promised that on his first day in office he would order his Joint Chiefs of Staff to switch their strategy to an orderly withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush called for a switch in tactics and leadership, commonly called the “Surge,” in order to win the Iraq war. Obama declared the Surge a failure even before it had fully begun, and he stuck to his political theory that Iraq was not winnable until it was clear that the war was being won. Under Bush’s Surge, which clearly came too late, the goal of getting troops out of dangerous combat is progressing faster than Obama’s watered down retreat plan of 16 months. With 11 of 18 Iraqi provinces under Iraqi control, attacks against US troops remain low and apparently acceptable to the mainstream media, which no longer leads with such stories. Bush’s Surge is actually a faster path to Iraq withdrawal than Obama’s arbitrary 16 month pledge. In other words, Obama is now the leading proponent of sticking around Iraq longer than necessary.

Obama criticized Bush’s secrecy policies and apparent refusal to release internal documents that could have served Democrat operatives. Fast forward to the Blagojevich scandal, and Obama has circled the wagons. First, Obama’s team denied any contact with the governor. Later, they revealed 20 such contacts, including Obama himself. Then, the Obama team prepared an internal investigation into the matter and, without releasing the report, declared that everyone was cleared of wrongdoing. Later still, they released most of the report. To be sure, Obama’s people probably did no wrong in this matter, but Obama’s new found interest in secrecy and Clintonian dribbling out of information is nothing like Change.

Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay. Throughout his candidacy, he portrayed ‘Gitmo’ as being a tourture chamber and a black mark on the soul of America. At the same time, the Bush administration said that their goal was to close Gitmo as well, releasing many prisoners and attempting military trials for the rest. Democrats worked to block the tribunals, delaying the Bush plan to close Gitmo. Obama, on his second day in office, directed his staff to work toward a Gitmo closure within a year with no plan as to the disposition of its dangerous prisoners. If Gitmo were nearly as repugnant as Obama had claimed, a year would be unacceptable. At least Bush had a plan and was working on it. Who would have closed Gitmo sooner is unclear.

Obama said that eliminating all the Bush tax cuts was a “moral imperative,” while McCain and Bush both said that raising taxes during an economic slowdown (now crisis) was counterproductive. Now in office, Obama agrees with his Republican foes, and is at odds with the far left House Speaker on the issue.

Obama criticized the Bush administration bailout, or ‘TARP.’ He said it didn’t help real Americans. As President, Obama is planning TARP II, with as much bailout as the original, with a few hundred billion dollars in pork on top. Aparantly, Bush wasn’t wrong so much as he didn’t go far enough.

To be sure, Obama is different from Bush. Among his top priorities are funding embryonic stem cell research and abortions around the world. Also, Obama will make sure gays and lesbians can openly express their lifestyles in the military. Such gestures will placate the far left for a while, but he will soon be confronted with their more substantive agendas – card check, tax increases, gun control, and socialized medicine (the latter of which Bush supported aggressively).

Still, people who anticipate (or fear) that Obama will be the cure for all things Bush will be surprised. Obama benefited from his lack of an established record – otherwise known as inexperience – to promise all things to all people. The demands of his office will force him to modify more of his idealistic campaign positions, alienate, polarize, and start to look a lot like Bush. Welcome to Washington, Mr. President.