The Obvious Question

Bruce Bartlett asks an interesting and key question in his latest article.

One of the things that surprises me so far in the race for the White House is that none of the Republicans is positioning himself clearly as the anti-Bush. I think there is a yearning for such a candidate among the Republican electorate.

I would expand past the Republican electorate, and perhaps that gives a key to the problem. The Republican Base wants one thing, the general electorate something else. The base would like to hear a candidate talk about further tough action against Iran, Syria and North Korea. The general electorate seems a lot less excited about new wars.