It’s no secret that this author is dissatisfied with the Bush administration. The size and scope of government have grown exponentially on this President’s watch. Bush has failed to veto massive spending bills, and he has abandoned conservatives on many issues that are important to them. But at the heart of many of these problems is a failure to discern when political capital should be used (or should not be used) to get something done. The President has chosen his battles unwisely.

The ramifications of this shortcoming were on display yet again last week when the President nominated Judge Michael Mukasey to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Don’t get me wrong. Mukasey may end up being a very good Attorney General. His work on the federal bench is widely admired, and his position as chief judge has given him administrative, not only legal, experience from which he can draw. On the other hand, his primary experience at the Department of Justice was a four-year stint as assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan three decades ago. It does seem a little random to nominate a federal district judge for a position of national importance, particularly when eminently qualified candidates such as former Solicitor General Ted Olson are available.

And this takes us back to the crux of the problem. True to form, Bush has already misused vast amounts of political capital in recent months. The capital that should have been used to defend Olson in confirmation hearings was instead used in a doomed effort to defend Gonzales from his own missteps. Bush has very little political sway left. To the degree that he has influence remaining, he was apparently not interested in using it to push Olson through the Senate confirmation process. After all, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had already thrown down the gauntlet, declaring that “I intend to do everything I can to prevent [Olson] from being confirmed as the next attorney general.”

Why waste political ammunition getting a good candidate through the Senate confirmation process? Much better to nominate a former federal judge from New York who has already been pre-approved by liberals such as Senator Chuck Schumer.

Indeed, Bush has often shown reluctance to spend the political capital needed to push qualified nominees through the Senate confirmation process. He nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, bypassing many more experienced candidates, in the hopes that he could avoid a nasty confirmation fight. He let qualified jurists such as Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and Miguel Estrada dangle for years on end while Senate Democrats delayed and filibustered their nominations.

Tell me. How is it that so much of the Hispanic community still has no idea that Senate Democrats killed the nomination of the highly qualified Estrada to the D.C. Court of Appeals? Simple. Hispanic voters don’t know about Estrada because Bush failed to spend the necessary time, energy, and political capital ensuring that his judicial nominees were treated fairly—and making sure that the nation knew about it when they were not. Bush’s indifference taught Democrats that they can win these battles, even when nominees are well qualified. As a result, the talented Samuel Alito received only 58 affirmative Senate votes when he was nominated for the Supreme Court.

Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for such blatantly partisan votes, but Bush bears a share of the blame, too.

Many important efforts have suffered from Bush’s lack of interest through the years. Egregiously, this allegedly conservative administration has failed to take a stand against inflated budgets. Bush has at least one simple tool with which he can fight runaway spending: his veto pen. Even a threat to use the veto pen can be highly effective. But Bush hasn’t seemed interested in using his veto power, at least not until fairly recently. Indeed, he inexplicably failed to veto the McCain-Feingold campaign finance “reform,” despite (apparently) believing that the legislation is unconstitutional. On an encouraging note, Bush pushed his tax cuts through—a rare, positive use of the presidential bully pulpit—but then he failed to follow-up that effort with others designed to ensure that the tax cuts remain permanent.

It gets even worse. Unfortunately, Bush has not only failed to promote productive policies, but he has also compounded this failure by wasting time and energy on other, pointless efforts. Perhaps most notably, he has enthusiastically supported misguided immigration policies and a massive expansion of Medicare, both of which have actively upset his party’s conservative base.

This President had the opportunity to do a great deal of good for our nation during his time in office. And, to be fair, he has done some good. (The confirmations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito leap to mind.) For the most part, however, Bush chose to squander the opportunity that he was given. He spent his years in office ignoring real needs that cried out for his attention, instead supporting unwise or unneeded policy measures.

What a disappointing waste of time his administration has been.

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