If you judge strength (ie weakness) by comparison of the US economy to the economies of its major trading partner ( US $ vs. Canadian $ 5yr chart) , the US is crawling around on all fours in a ditch looking for its teeth. That's on W's watch.

I can certainly understand why someone would be a social/fiscal/cultural conservative, but at this point, I can't imagine anyone saying they think W and the lads have done a good job, except as a provocation to an argument.

He has lived up to his destiny as an embarassment the US will need generations to live down. The best that can be said of him is that he occasionally managed to extricate himself from problems caused by his administration's own incompetence.