With the 2010 election season underway, Republicans are reportedly concerned about how the impending release of former President George W. Bush's memoir, Decision Points, may affect the party's success at the polls come November.
While the widely-anticipated book from Bush isn't set to be released until November 9 -- one week after votes are cast across the country -- details from the text have already begun to leak out.
Moreover, the unpopular Republican leader and contentious policy initiatives put forth by his administration have already resurfaced to shake-up this year's heated midterm match-ups.
Matt Latimer at the Daily Beast reports:
[Some] Republicans, particularly those most closely tied to the Bush regime, actually argue the book could help the party by reminding some voters of what they liked about Bush. Still, that has not stopped some Republicans, traumatized over the last two election cycles, from fearing the worst. "Monumentally bad timing" was the reaction of one former Bush aide who learned of the book release date. Another prominent conservative compared the Bushies' public-relations savvy to LeBron James. "Selfish and stupid" was another noted right-wing columnist's reaction.
As for Democrats, it seems that the date of the memoir's release coinciding with the midterm elections should come as welcome news.
Just last week the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out a web ad taking aim at Republicans over the Bush issue. The organization's message -- "we can't afford to [go] back" to the Bush era -- came on the heels of Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) suggesting, "We need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminishing it," alluding to the fiscal policy of the Bush administration as benchmark for success.
Similarly, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, found himself under attack from Democrats after he cast a relatively favorable light on the Bush 43 presidency. In an appearance on C-SPAN the GOP Senator asserted, "I think a lot of people are looking back with a little -- with more fondness on President Bush's administration, and I think history will treat him well."
The extent to which the Bush factor will prove instrumental in influencing this year's races remains to be seen; however, it seems safe to expect Democrats will continue making the former president's legacy an election issue.