Later Views
Bush's broken promise was one of several important factors leading to Bush's defeat. In fact, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh in his book See I Told You So, believes Bush would've easily won re-election had he not increased taxes. Republican pollster Richard Wirthlin called them "the six most destructive words in the history of presidential politics." Ed Rollins has called it "probably the most serious violation of any political pledge anybody has ever made." White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater called the reversal the "single biggest mistake of the administration." Others disagree with this view. Richard Darman does not believe that the reversal played a central role in Bush's defeat; rather he argues that it simply became a focal point for discontent with an economic situation that Bush had little control over. Others feel that the reversal was politically disastrous, but also good for the country. Daniel L. Ostrander has argued that Bush's actions should be seen as a noble sacrifice of his own political future for the good of the nation's well-being. Ostrander and Darman, as well as most Democrats, feel the error was making the pledge in the first place, not breaking it.
Conservative Republicans generally feel the opposite, that Bush should have stood by his pledge no matter the pressure exerted by Congress. While the reversal played an important role in Bill Clinton's 1992 victory, it also played a role in the 1994 Republican congressional victory. Newt Gingrich, while a member of the congressional negotiating committee, refused to endorse Bush's compromise on the tax issue. He then led over one hundred Republican House members in voting against the president's first budget proposal. This made Gingrich a hero to conservative Republicans, and propelled him into the leadership role he would play in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994.
The phrase was subsequently used by Brian Lenihan, Jr., Irish Minister for Finance on September 17, 2009, promising not to raise taxes in the December 2009 budget.
Read more about this topic: Read My Lips: No New Taxes
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