Smith reflects on Bush legacy

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- U.S. Rep. Chris Smith said he votes differently than the Bush Administration’s policies and his own party more than any other New Jersey Republican.

But Smith takes a measured tone when reflecting on what the legacy of the Bush era will look like.

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of anger directed at him.  He gets blamed for all kinds of things,” said Smith.

Smith wasn’t defending Bush.  He’s had his own run-ins with either the administration or its allies in Congress.  He was “persona non grata” to them after being booted from the Veterans Affairs Committee over a policy disagreement, and for being the prime Republican co-sponsor for the bill creating the 9/11 commission.

With popularity ratings that are among the lowest in history, reaching Nixonian levels in New Jersey, Bush compares himself to Harry Truman – unpopular in his time, but vindicated by history.  Smith said the “jury is still out” on that one.

“I think only time and the expanse of historical look back that’s honest and objective will say.  He really has tried to make the transformational fight against Al Qaeda and terrorism a serious and sustainable battle.  And that’s done diplomatically, by beefing up our embassies with more diplomatic security personnel, improving our infrastructure,” he said.  “There is so much that has happened that has been mitigated, which some day when it’s declassified more people will know how compelling that threat really was and how it was thwarted through good intelligence sharing and the like.”

Smith said that he was critical of Bush for opting to attend the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing.  But upon the request of Smith and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Bush did meet with five Chinese dissidents living in the United States before he left for China. 

“I think the jury’s out, and it will take some years and honest reassessment based on the historical record, and especially the declassified record,” he said.