2008; An Inevitably Retrospective Election.

George W. Bush can tout any number of disputable achievements he has presided over since 2000, all of which can and will be argued over by the partisans of the left and the right for years to come.

None of these achievements comes close to what he has managed to do to the idea of retrospective voting.

Retrospective voting, at its most basic level is the judgement of the voting public on the performance of an incumbent. For this it requires an incumbent, if the incumbent is not running for office, how can they be judged, negatively or positively, by the voter?

George W. Bush and the election of 2008 demonstrate the answer to this question.

Make no mistake, America has had a chance to endorse Mr Bush and his politics. All but two of the Republican nominees shared facets of his leadership style and admiration for his initiatives in office; Rudy Guiliani reflected the unnacountable and authoritarian way in which Bush and Cheney have prosecuted the 'war on terror', Mick Huckabee the bellicose religiousity and Mitt Romney the sneering cynicism and say-anything mode of campaigning that gave Bush and Cheney their 51%.

All three were rejected, with only Mick Huckabee garnering any kind of enthusiasm from his evangelical base. Instead the Republicans and America in general opted for John McCain and the only chance of saving the Republican brand from the stain of the Bush/Cheney administration.

Incredibly, the election of 2008 has already become a retrospective renunciation of George W. Bush, before a ballot is cast and whatever the result may be.