# conspiracy theory: Trump won to salvage G.W. Bush's legacy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 30, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374 "2018-04-30T20:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/1 "2018-04-30T20:56:30Z")
This is more of an observational joke, really. The other day, I found myself thinking G.W. Bush doesn’t look as bad these days as he did before Trump came along. Maybe republicans really aren’t dumb enough to think Trump is actually a good\* choice. They’re just trying to rehabilitate the image of their previous candidate. I’d rather not imagine what they’ll do to save Trump’s image. Maybe a “Gotcha!”, ‘it was all a joke’ resignation? \*good as in “we’ll be better off if his policies go through and he actually does what he said he’d do”, not just a ‘lesser of two evils’ (which is all you need in a two-party system). ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/2 "2018-04-30T21:06:50Z")
I don’t think so at all. Nobody went to the voting booth in 2008 thinking about GWB. Come on. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/3 "2018-04-30T23:05:45Z")
You assume Trump is capable of doing something for the purpose of benefiting someone other than himself. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/4 "2018-05-01T05:08:31Z")
But if that theory is true, then the cycle has to continue. Who in the world could possibly make Trump look good by comparison? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/5 "2018-05-01T06:15:56Z")
Kanye? Richard Spencer? Pence? ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/6 "2018-05-01T08:43:38Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > But if that theory is true, then the cycle has to continue. > > Who in the world could possibly make Trump look good by comparison? And how would they keep a paper bag full of dog poop on fire for the entire election season? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/7 "2018-05-01T11:51:43Z")
> [@Delicious](#): > > And how would they keep a paper bag full of dog poop on fire for the entire election season? We’re doing it pretty well right now, only without the paper bag. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/8 "2018-05-01T17:04:26Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > But if that theory is true, then the cycle has to continue. > > Who in the world could possibly make Trump look good by comparison? Ted Cruz. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/9 "2018-05-01T17:39:12Z")
Bush isn’t looking better just because Trump is worse. If anything, Trump has reduced whatever stature Bush had left after leaving office. Now, along with all of the things Bush did while in office, we can add that he lowered the bar on the Presidency enough that Trump was able to get elected. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/10 "2018-05-01T19:50:43Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > This is more of an observational joke, really. > > The other day, I found myself thinking G.W. Bush doesn’t look as bad these days as he did before Trump came along. > > Maybe republicans really aren’t dumb enough to think Trump is actually a good\* choice. They’re just trying to rehabilitate the image of their previous candidate. I’d rather not imagine what they’ll do to save Trump’s image. Maybe a “Gotcha!”, ‘it was all a joke’ resignation? > > \*good as in “we’ll be better off if his policies go through and he actually does what he said he’d do”, not just a ‘lesser of two evils’ (which is all you need in a two-party system). I don’t think there was any sort of conspiracy to make George W. Bush’s presidency look better, but the Republican Party never really analyzed or accepted why the Bush administration was a failure. I believe a lot of people voted for Trump who knew the Bush years were a failure, but they couldn’t accept that they had put the agenda in place that made it a failure. So they voted for Trump who promised more of the same, but cranked up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/11 "2018-05-01T20:27:46Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > But if that theory is true, then the cycle has to continue. > > Who in the world could possibly make Trump look good by comparison? Palin. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/12 "2018-05-01T20:36:54Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Palin. …on a ticket with your choice of Michele Bachmann or Roy Moore. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/13 "2018-05-01T20:40:14Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > …on a ticket with your choice of Michele Bachmann or Roy Moore. Don’t give them ideas. It’s becoming clear that this kind of shit could happen. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/14 "2018-05-01T23:33:21Z")
Here’s the elephant in the room: Trump doesn’t give a shit about Bush or anybody else but himself. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/15 "2018-05-02T00:45:26Z")
Wait a second. I thought Jeb ran to salvage the Bush legacy. And we saw how well that worked. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/16 "2018-05-02T04:22:47Z")
Trump didn’t mean to make Dubya look better. He represented an anti-Bush vote, and he may even think he’s superior to Dubya. He makes Dubya look better by accident, by being embarrassing enough that people want to pretend there has ever in their lifetimes been a \*non-\*embarrassing GOP President. But of course there hasn’t. Dubya: Iraq, kidnapping foreign nationals, general social obliviousness Poppy: slightly less socially oblivious, also in bed with Arab kings to the point of adventurism Reagan: Iran-Contra, voodoo economics, general incompetence Ford: kind of OK except for pardoning the previous guy Nixon: cluster-bombing Cambodia, forced to resign for mobsterism Ike: that coup in Iran, turning the CIA into a tool of (English) imperialism generally Hoover: _I’m sorry, I broke down laughing._ Coolidge: total waste of time, completely unhelpful ass, a tea-tray would be a better head of government Harding: Teapot Dome, general buffoonery TR: _You’re not that old._ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/17 "2018-05-02T15:04:03Z")
Abe Lincoln wasn’t all that bad. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/18 "2018-05-02T16:33:10Z")
Of GOP Presidents of the USA, I think Chester Arthur is the most consistently well-regarded and non-embarrassing. (Opinions on Lincoln run hot and cold 😉 ) But again, not one known in the lifetimes of most present voters, because most voters are human beings, not giant tortoises nor some kind of parrot. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/19 "2018-05-02T17:07:37Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > (Opinions on Lincoln run hot and cold 😉 ) Republicans sometimes try to distance themselves from charges of racism by claiming they’re the party of Lincoln. I wonder if that could be turned against them. Next time southerners get all hot and bothered about the removal of a monument to some Civil War figure, post pictures of the statue and say “you know who led the war against him? Republicans!” ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theory-trump-won-to-salvage-g-w-bushs-legacy/813374/20 "2018-05-04T23:00:15Z")
Bush the Elder voted for Clinton. Bush the Younger didn’t vote for Trump. How do these facts square with the conspiracy theory? I think Bush looks better than Trump because he was better than Trump.