It would be easy to quip that Bush's only influence on the 2008 election will be as a weapon for Barrack Obama to wield and as a liability shackled to John McCain and the entire Republican party. It would be easy, and for many of us comforting, to dismiss Bush entirely-but we made that mistake once already in 2004 when we were so sure that an articulate statesman like John Kerry (who, I admit, had all of the charisma of a dirty gym sock) would thrash Bush and coast into the White House on a wave of our anybody-but-Bush support. We were wrong then, and we're likely wrong now.

Bush, in a lot of ways, epitomizes the spirit of America. I can feel my lunch protesting in my gut as I write such a thing, but I am dedicated to the organ encased by my skull-my digestive tract has no say in matters of politics.

If you walked our country from sea to oily sea, talking to ever Tom, Dick and Sally along the way, you'd come away from the experience with three things: a very sore set of legs, a huge migraine from listening to the incessant squawking of the average American (if these people are the salt of the earth, I must be the slug of the earth) and most importantly a sense of a people united by sheer determination.

Tenacity is, and always has been, our country's number one resource. We may not be the brightest country on the planet, nor the most refined and or the most civilized, but when it comes to pure stick-to-it-ness, we really are number one.

Bush embodies this trait. He doesn't care if his approval ratings are thin enough to use as a butter knife-he will stay the course. He doesn't care if the whole world raises its arms in frustrated protest at his latest debacle-he will stay the course. He doesn't care if we revile and detest him and view him as the worst president this country has ever had-he will stay the course.

One could almost admire him if he weren't so stupid and evil.

So, let us ask ourselves this: why does John McCain stand by a war that a huge majority of American's want out of? Why does John McCain now support Bush tax cuts that he was initially against? The answer to these and other bizarre policy choice questions can only be found when John McCain is viewed through the lens of being beholden to Bush.

Bush has been the most powerful man in the country for 8 years. He has redefined the Republican party for the worse, setting it on a course for disaster and simultaneously characterizing anyone who deviates from that course as unpatriotic. And even though Bush is unpopular, his spin machine remains in tact. So if John McCain does anything but stay the course of his predecessor, the Sean Hannities of the world will disembowel him with great relish, all to the delight of an amused populace. It doesn't matter if the coarse we're on is the road to Hell-John McCain will take us if we let him.

Thanks, President Bush!

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