Come January 2009, if Giuliani/McCain/Thompson/Romney or Huckabee is president, they will request money to keep funding the wars because "victory" is just around the corner.

The Republican Party no longer practices anything Ronald Reagan every taught it. It is now Bush's neo-con party. So please tell me how he's not running? Because his stink is clouding the whole election.

I wish people were more cynical, but it won't happen this or any other year it seems. While all the candidates poll every issue and begin to sound more alike as the year goes on, the value of thinking independently goes down. The lazy electorate begins to hear them invoke the things they care about at the moment, but when the leadership changes hands in January 2009, nothing will really change. We'll have both Republicans and Democrats who request more war funding, while we keep borrowing money from China, while personal liberties here suffer.

Not one candidate except a couple also-rans are actually talking about the Patriot Act and secret torture prisons and that's because Bush has made a mark on our culture.

Bush is definitely running in this campaign. His legacy looms over us like a dark cloud and it can either be addressed or ignored.