President Bush ran in 2000 as "a uniter, not a divider" and I think the 2004 election proves that he was successful. If you watch the news you'll see a huge number of people who seem to hate his guts and think he's evil and malignant, but I don't think they refute George W. Bush's ability to unite us as a country.
Sure, we're more polarized than ever, and many Democrats think President Bush is the worst thing since Hitler, but the thing to realize is that President Bush is reducing the number of Democrats. He received nine million more votes in 2004 than he did in 2000, and many of those people were Gore voters who decided to switch sides. Our parties may be more polarized than ever, but because of President Bush more Americans are uniting under the Republican banner than ever before.
Congressional Democrats are clamoring for Bush to pay attention to them and negotiate, but why should he? He doesn't have to be "bipartisan" and unite the parties in order to unite the country. He's uniting the country by enticing people away from the opposition and onto his side. Rather than making peace with his opponents, he's turning opponents into friends. That's what real unity is, and he's being more successful than any president I can think of.
His job is made easier every time a Democrat opens his mouth to say something stupid and mean-spirited. If the Democrats care about their party and want to play it smart they should concentrate on reducing attrition rather than stirring up the faithful. However, any Democrat who really wants to play it smart and influence the next 20 years of American policy should be switching to the Republican party ASAP.
