Thank you, dear leader, for screwing our ’08 chances

Today I received an email from outgoing Republican National Committee chairman “Mike” Duncan asking to sign on to an online “thank you” card for President Bush’s eight years of “outstanding service and courageous leadership.”  My first thought was this: how could Republicans possibly think it was a good idea to go out of their way to laud a sitting president with approval ratings hovering in the 20’s, and whom they shunned so assiduously throughout the campaign?  But whatever.

My second thought, though, may provide a clue: could we ever imagine the post-Obama Democrats so urging their members to send a thank-you card for Obama’s (hopefully) eight years of service and leadership?  Maybe, but the enterprise seems more to me to embody the sycophancy typical of the Republican Party.  I don’t think there’s any doubt that, soon after Obama is inaugurated, liberals and progressive groups like MoveOn.org will disagree with some of Obama’s decisions and initiatives.  Moreover, they will let their constituents know about these disappointments, and in a productive grassroots way, rather than merely griping, as disaffected Bushies seem wont to do.  The whole thing just seems like an unnecessary sop to the conservative plank of venerating the personality of the leader.  I just bet that, outside of that reliable hardcore fringe of unabashed W.-lovers, the RNC might wish that that leader was a different person right now.

(image from flickr user _Faraz under a Creative Commons license)