Politics & Power Quote by Ed Gillespie

Calling George W. Bush “not only a great president; he was a great candidate” is less a judgment than a strategic rewrite of recent memory. Ed Gillespie, a party operative as much as a public-facing politician, is doing two pieces of work at once: defending a governing record that had become politically radioactive in many circles, and reclaiming the lost art of selling Bush as a product.

The phrasing matters. “Not only” sets up an implied objection: you may doubt Bush’s presidency, but you can’t deny his campaign prowess. Then Gillespie flips it, insisting on “great president” first, as if the premise is settled, and uses “great candidate” as the clincher. It’s a neat bit of rhetorical laundering: candidate-ness becomes proof of presidential greatness, as if electoral charisma retroactively sanctifies policy outcomes. The semicolon isn’t decorative either; it functions like a wink at insiders, the people who remember the mechanics of Bush’s appeal even if they now avoid the record.

Subtext: Bush’s brand still matters to the party’s identity. “Great candidate” invokes the 2000 and 2004 playbooks: disciplined messaging, cultural shorthand, a folksy authenticity that played as virtue against technocratic opponents. It’s also a quiet reminder that politics is performance. A “great” presidency is contested; a “great” campaign is measurable in turnout, narrative control, and coalition management.

Contextually, the line fits a moment when Republicans needed continuity without fully litigating the fallout of Iraq, Katrina, and the financial crisis. Gillespie isn’t arguing history; he’s arguing utility: Bush, whatever else, was good at winning.