Firstly, Trump specifically ran against “Bush-ism” during ‘15/‘16 when he tied Jeb, Clinton, and the “establishment” to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and promised to end the “forever wars” started under the Bush-Cheney administration. During the primary debates he literally called the war a “big, fat, mistake,” said it was started on a lie, …
Firstly, Trump specifically ran against “Bush-ism” during ‘15/‘16 when he tied Jeb, Clinton, and the “establishment” to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and promised to end the “forever wars” started under the Bush-Cheney administration. During the primary debates he literally called the war a “big, fat, mistake,” said it was started on a lie, and that George W. Bush maybe should’ve been impeached over it. If you look at Liz Cheney’s ‘22 primary last year that she lost by almost 30 points, almost as many of Trump’s attacks on her were linking her to her father and W. Bush as were criticizing her “disloyalty” to him. “Dick Cheney” was literally used as an epithet during the GOP debate last week. So I would say not only do a lot of people repelled by Cheney vote for Trump/ MAGA, but that it’s also been pretty apparent since ‘15 that if you like Bush/ Cheney policies, Trump is not really for you. Even though Bush and Cheney haven’t made it explicit they’re anti-Trump, MAGA has made it clear it’s anti-them.
Secondly, obviously The Bulwark crowd likes Cheney for his general conservatism, etc., but Cheney and W. Bush are mostly remembered for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their fallouts. Very few people hear “George Bush” or “Dick Cheney” and immediately think of “No Child Left Behind” or “AIDs relief in Africa;” almost everyone thinks of the wars, which lasted for decades, defined American foreign policy for almost the whole first quarter of the 21st century, and are now largely regarded as failures. So tying Dick Cheney to Biden, in the context of him trying to navigate wars in Europe and the Middle East, while already having low approval ratings with young progressives and facing at least 3-5 anti-war opponents in ‘24, would probably drive away more voters than you could possibly gain. Besides, it’s not just Trump and Biden in ‘24, there’s also at least Cornell West, RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and the libertarian. A vote for any one of them will mostly help Trump (like in ‘15).
While foreign policy is a salient issue I just don’t think it makes sense to draw the comparison between Biden and the initiators of the Iraq War, especially since all of his political opponents are already trying to paint him as too involved internationally. Joe Biden is already the internationalist candidate, you don’t need to tie him to one of the most unpopular hawks to make that point. If there were to be a conservative endorsement of Biden, it would probably be more helpful coming from someone who doesn’t have that particular baggage.
Firstly, Trump specifically ran against “Bush-ism” during ‘15/‘16 when he tied Jeb, Clinton, and the “establishment” to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and promised to end the “forever wars” started under the Bush-Cheney administration. During the primary debates he literally called the war a “big, fat, mistake,” said it was started on a lie, and that George W. Bush maybe should’ve been impeached over it. If you look at Liz Cheney’s ‘22 primary last year that she lost by almost 30 points, almost as many of Trump’s attacks on her were linking her to her father and W. Bush as were criticizing her “disloyalty” to him. “Dick Cheney” was literally used as an epithet during the GOP debate last week. So I would say not only do a lot of people repelled by Cheney vote for Trump/ MAGA, but that it’s also been pretty apparent since ‘15 that if you like Bush/ Cheney policies, Trump is not really for you. Even though Bush and Cheney haven’t made it explicit they’re anti-Trump, MAGA has made it clear it’s anti-them.
Secondly, obviously The Bulwark crowd likes Cheney for his general conservatism, etc., but Cheney and W. Bush are mostly remembered for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and their fallouts. Very few people hear “George Bush” or “Dick Cheney” and immediately think of “No Child Left Behind” or “AIDs relief in Africa;” almost everyone thinks of the wars, which lasted for decades, defined American foreign policy for almost the whole first quarter of the 21st century, and are now largely regarded as failures. So tying Dick Cheney to Biden, in the context of him trying to navigate wars in Europe and the Middle East, while already having low approval ratings with young progressives and facing at least 3-5 anti-war opponents in ‘24, would probably drive away more voters than you could possibly gain. Besides, it’s not just Trump and Biden in ‘24, there’s also at least Cornell West, RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and the libertarian. A vote for any one of them will mostly help Trump (like in ‘15).
While foreign policy is a salient issue I just don’t think it makes sense to draw the comparison between Biden and the initiators of the Iraq War, especially since all of his political opponents are already trying to paint him as too involved internationally. Joe Biden is already the internationalist candidate, you don’t need to tie him to one of the most unpopular hawks to make that point. If there were to be a conservative endorsement of Biden, it would probably be more helpful coming from someone who doesn’t have that particular baggage.