A growing sense of unease about, and antipathy towards, President George W. Bush and his Administration.

Many of my friends are Republican and, after much soul searching, most seem to have voted for Bush in the 2004 election. Most were not entirely comfortable with George W. Bush – to put it mildly - but the general consensus was that Senator Kerry was a weak candidate, had lost their trust over his anti-Vietnam stance, and, anyway, was something of a doofus; and certainly not a strong enough leader; or at least not charismatic in any shape or form. The guy, it was felt, was more wooden than Gore. Also, they were Republican so how could one, in good conscience, vote for a Democrat unless the case was clear – which it was not. Then there was a strong, over-riding feeling that US should not change leadership in the middle of a war. It would send the wrong signals to the enemy.

These are good people, and most seem to have tried hard to do the right thing, but few were happy with their decision.

But why not?

• There were considerable concerns about Bush’s intelligence, about the innate caliber of the man. During the presidential debates he had come across as more of a used car salesman armed with talking points prepared by others than as an intelligent, confident leader. Was Bush, in fact, more image than substance? Was he a merely puppet with Cheney, Rove and a group of well heeled ultra rich pulling the strings?

• There was distaste that, once again, as when running in the primaries against Senator John McCain, Bush had sought to secure his election victory through what was clearly a well orchestrated smear (this time by the Swifties). The feeling was that this revealed an unpleasant side to the man, and his people, which did not reflect well on either his party or the dignity of his office. It just wasn’t honorable. It was dirty.

• There was great angst about Bush’s seeming indifference towards balancing the budget as well as his apparent lack of concern for the financial wellbeing of the average American – even the average well off American. His spending plans were creating a Federal budget deficit of unparalleled proportions yet his tax breaks primarily benefited the ultra rich. He seemed to be both unaware of, and indifferent to, the ever increasing financial pressures on the Middle Class. He seemed unconcerned about our enormous borrowings, our ever increasing trade deficit, the loss of well paid manufacturing jobs and of a host of other issues fundamental to the financial health of the American voter.

• Although Bush projected the image of being a strong leader in the War on Terror, the gaps between his rhetoric and reality seemed to be increasing by the day. The reasons given for invading Iraq turned out not to be valid – and now there were serious questions about whether he really knew what he was doing. Then there were issues about Homeland Security. If we really were under the level of threat he had stated, why were the borders still open over three years later? Why were ports still so vulnerable? Why was rail almost completely neglected? Why were chemical plants mainly accidents waiting to happen?

• There was a widespread and growing feeling that the Republican Party, whose traditional values of less government, fiscal rectitude and sensible social concern, had been hijacked by a bunch of Southern opportunists who were working 9/11 and the Religious Right for entirely opportunistic personal advantage – rather than because of belief. True, they were not prepared to vote for Kerry just yet on that basis – because one had to ride out the rough spots in politics, and support one’s party – but such thoughts chafed.

Since the election, none of these reservations have gone away. Instead unease has evolved into antipathy in the face of a President who seems incapable of admitting a mistake, or of really doing very much other than advancing the interests of his well heeled friends.

The War in Iraq is turning out to be a disaster, the military have been weakened, there is every indication that the terrorist threat is increasing, health costs are out of control, American infrastructure is crumbling, the Nation’s international reputation has rarely been lower – and the President’s penchant for smear has surfaced one again.

My friends are not happy campers. They feel the care of the America they love is being both neglected and abused.

And this is just what my Republican friends think…