Romney's tribute to Bush: Ended recession, 'took down' Taliban

Mitt Romney offered an unusual tribute to George W. Bush in his speech today, making him one of the few speakers at CPAC to even mention the former president:

I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly — he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11, he overcame teachers unions to test schoolchildren and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is — a war, and he kept us safe. I respect his silence even in the face of the assaults on his record that come from this administration.



The passage had, I think, an audience of one: Bush. Romney is looking to inherit what remains his network of establishment support in 2012 and to run the kind of dominant campaign Bush did that cycle.

But this is a difficult case to make. One recession ended under Bush — but the recent, longer one began under Bush. And if he "took down the Taliban," what are American soldiers doing over there right now?