[sweetjazz]

The term 'conservative' is a complicated label. Bush's version of conservatism is very different than previous notions of conservatism. Bush believes in the involvement of the federal government at levels much higher than most conservatives have in the past. It would be fair, I believe, to say that Bush is not a fiscal conservative (even though he's made statements to the contrary...his actions speak louder than his rhetoric here in my opinion).

On the other hand, Bush can accurately be labeled as a social conservative. The basic values and priorities on social issues that he has are what lead working class conservatives to support him.

I don't think the fact that the term 'conservative' is in some ways accurate and in some ways inaccurate to describe George W. Bush is any more problematic than the term 'liberal' is in some ways accurate and in some ways inaccurate to describe Hillary Clinton.

Given how much Bush has had to deal with, it would be shocking if all of his decisions could be simply boxholed into a single ideology or philosophy.