But you do not realise that "conservative" today is verging on becoming a synonym for "right-winger" as far the layman is concerned, and since hawkish ideas are well in the realm of the right, it is understandable to see Bush reffered to as a conservative.
Since Bush refers to himself as a conservative specifically in order to appeal to faithful Repulican voters, it is understandable to see the public associate Bush with conservatism, which regardless of semantics is the defacto definition of Bush's political leaning according to the average American. The common American boor claims that patriotism is conservatism is patriotism, since this is what the Repulican Party peddles.
What with his latino-oriented politics, his pandering to his conservative support base in the Republican Party and to energy corporations, etc. and his capitalising on the events of Sept. 11 to launch a popular foreign policy, Bush is rather close to being a populist, as far as I see it.
Since Bush refers to himself as a conservative specifically in order to appeal to faithful Repulican voters, it is understandable to see the public associate Bush with conservatism, which regardless of semantics is the defacto definition of Bush's political leaning according to the average American. The common American boor claims that patriotism is conservatism is patriotism, since this is what the Repulican Party peddles.
What with his latino-oriented politics, his pandering to his conservative support base in the Republican Party and to energy corporations, etc. and his capitalising on the events of Sept. 11 to launch a popular foreign policy, Bush is rather close to being a populist, as far as I see it.
