I wonder if it’s appropriate to call it a victory when the only way for a Republican presidential hopeful to rally support is to start agreeing that this president is a failure. For the last six years these guys have told us to support the president, now that just over a quarter of the country likes him they flip sides.

“I would certainly not send him to the United Nations” to represent the United States, said Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor and one-time member of Bush’s Cabinet, midway through a spirited campaign debate.

Arizona Sen. John McCain criticized the administration for its handling of the Iraq War, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said, “I think we were underprepared and underplanned for what came after we knocked down Saddam Hussein.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California said the current administration “has the slows” when it comes to building a security fence along the border with Mexico.

Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado recalled that White House aide Karl Rove had once told him “never darken the door of the White House.” The congressman said he’d tell George W. Bush the same thing.

It’s worth noting, also, that Tommy Thompson isn’t new to criticizing Bush. After all, when he resigned in from his post in Bush’s cabinet back in 2005 he delivered a parting shot to the at-the-time incumbent prez.

“And I think to myself how many wells could I dig with $8 billion?” Thompson said. “How many clinics could I open? How many hospitals could I build in Afghanistan and Iraq or Palestine or Iran or Sudan with that kind of money? And it’s a much more lasting, permanent effect than sending troops in and trying to quell the terrorists.”

As for McRage, he’s all over the map. While he’s accurate that we were underprepared and underplanned, I’ll let this video cover that whole thing. And we all know that he hops back and forth between liking and disliking Dubya depending on what’s the most politically prudent.

[youtube]ioy90nF2anI[/youtube]

Tancredo? Amusingly enough, he’s with Thommy in that he’s been hard on the president in the past. In this case, it’s on the subject of immigration. His statement is a little loony tunes, I think, but the point is he’s been rough on old Dubya before.

“I know this is dramatic — or maybe somebody would say overly dramatic — but I’m telling you, that everything I see leads me to believe that this whole idea of the North American Union, it’s not something that just is written about by right-wing fringe kooks. It is something in the head of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, I think the prime minister of Canada buys into it. …

It seems odd that the biggest frontrunners in this outside of Rudy “Thank God George Bush is our president” Giuliani are men who have been critical of Bush in the past and who are more than happy to do so now. Once again, I find a touch of amusement in the fact that many things which we on the left have been saying all along are now becoming talking points for GOP hopefuls.

Well it’s official now. The fall guy in the whole Plamegate affair, Scooter Libby, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Truth be told, this doesn’t affect me at all. I’m glad he got punished for what he did, but it’s not like it makes a difference.

“People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem,” U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said.

Walton did not set a date for Libby to report to prison. Though he saw no reason to let Libby remain free pending appeal, Walton said he would accept written arguments on the issue and rule later.

So he’s going to prison… we’re just not sure when. Ah well.