Mitt Romney is no George W Bush. That’s a problem.

Failed presidencies have long half-lives. Just ask Walter Mondale or Michael Dukakis. Jimmy Carter’s legacy wasn’t the only reason they lost but they certainly received no assistance from the great peanut farmer’s record in office either. Mitt Romney has a similar problem. The memory of George W Bush’s unhappy presidency remains all too fresh. It makes life more difficult for Romney just as it eases Barack Obama’s path to a second term.

Bush’s legacy doesn’t grant Obama a free pass but it does give him a plausible-sounding way of explaining delays, setbacks and even the occasional failure. Look at the mess we inherited! It ain’t Morning yet but the darkest hour is past. 

Worse still, for Romney that is, the stigma now attached to the Bush years makes it harder for him to define himself. Just what kind of Republican is he? Clearly he can’t be heir-to-Bush because only an idiot would volunteer for that post.