George W. Who?

Yeah, don't hear too much about that guy these days.

Remember him? Not long ago, he was president. For eight turbulent years. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the Republican candidates who are vying to evict his Democratic successor and reclaim the White House for their party. On the subject of the way the country was governed — and how it fared — when they last ruled that particular roost, they’re almost consistently mum.

They seldom mention Bush positively. They seldom mention Bush negatively. They also never mention the Bush before Bush — the other slice of bread in the Clinton sandwich — and have thus turned the father and the son almost wholly into ghosts.