Here’s another question I’ve been tossing 
around in my head.
Can you think of any policy-decision or action President Bush has taken in his five-plus years in office that didn’t enjoy its greatest popularity on day one and then become more or less consistently less popular over time?
It’s true that we’re in the nadir of the Bush presidency. So now probably isn’t the best time to lay down the marker. But pick any other dates — 2001 to 2005, 2002 to 2004.
The other way to frame the question is this: Can you think of a policy-decision the president has made or an action that he took that wasn’t popular when he took it, or was deemed ill-advised at the outset, but has become more popular with time or is now generally regarded as a good decision?
Some examples spring to my mind. Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon did him great damage at the time. I 
think history has viewed it much more positively. Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax hike — really, really unpopular at the time, but became much more popular in retrospect. There are numerous other examples. But can you think of one for President Bush?
What I think is meaningless — I’m a consistent critic. But to the extent we can ascertain such things as public opinion judged by polls or elite consensus opinion judged through other means, is there anything from President Bush that falls into this category?
This isn’t a rhetorical question — though I think I have a good sense of the answer. Let me know. And again, don’t just go by your personal opinions. Think about public opinion in general or consensus establishment opinion, and try to come up with something from President Bush that has worn well, rather than poorly, over time.
