The Return of W

George W. Bush is back in the news. He has published his Presidential memoirs, Decision Points, and timed the launch to take advantage of the Republican comeback in Congress and the Senate.

This is very good news for President Obama.

The return of The Decider couldn't have happened at a better time. We have a stark reminder of the glaring failures of the Republican administration, led by Bush for eight years. That the voting public fails to link the Bush years to the aftermath that has hamstrung the United States for the past two years is a text book case of collective amnesia.

These are the same people who brought you Iraq, Katrina, Water-boarding and the Financial Crisis. How quickly we forget!

Barack Obama is no savior. But he has managed to:

• arrest the economic free-fall through the introduction of economic stimulus legislation;

• reform the health care system;

• introduce financial regulatory reform measures;

• withdraw troops from Iraq, a war that needlessly cost thousands of lives and the American tax payer billions of dollars;

• increased troop levels in Afghanistan, a legitimate conflict;

• signed an arms control treaty with Russia.

Obama seems to have lost confidence in himself and embraced the harsh criticism that has come from a well-orchestrated campaign by the right. But he should take heart that George Bush has re-surfaced to remind us all of the disastrous "leadership" provided by the right.

President Obama needs to play offense not defense. The return of W could provide the momentum he needs to recover the game.

© Patrick O’Neill 2008. All rights reserved.