In his August 16 “Best of the Web Today” column, Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com editor James Taranto claimed that "[e]ight years ago," then-presidential candidate George W. Bush “understood that he was not running against Bill Clinton and for the most part ignored him.” In fact, in 1999, Bush attacked the Clinton administration on numerous issues, including peacekeeping missions to Somalia and Haiti, failed Medicare reform, the state of the military, defense spending, enforcement of gun laws, agricultural policy, and Chinese espionage.

In his column, Taranto contrasted Bush's bid for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination with the current race for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Taranto wrote:

Blame Bush--but Not Entirely
“Not all the nation's ills can be blamed on President Bush, Democratic candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday,” begins an Associated Press dispatch from Cedar Falls, Iowa. But it turns out this is just by way of introducing populist boilerplate:

“Part of the problem here is not just George Bush and the White House,” Obama told a crowd of hundreds gathered at a park in Cedar Falls. “We can't just change political parties and continue to do the same kind of things we've been doing. We can't just go about business as usual and think it's going to turn out differently.”

Obama, a senator from Illinois, said average Americans must be brought back to the table when dealing with every issue, from health care to education to trade.

“We've got to make sure workers are represented, not just CEOs. We've got to make sure patients are represented and the nurses are represented, not just drug companies,” he said.

The AP certainly shows good news judgment here: It is highly unusual for a Democrat to acknowledge that not all problems are caused by Bush, and that in itself is interesting.

Eight years ago, George W. Bush was in the same position as Obama, Hillary Clinton and that nice-looking young man with the hair and the Southern accent are today: seeking his party's nomination to succeed a two-term president. Bush understood that he was not running against Bill Clinton and for the most part ignored him. Had he made a statement to the effect that Clinton was not responsible for all of the nation's ills, this would have been taken as an attack on the incumbent.

By contrast, today's Democrats have invested so much of their identity in hatred of Bush that it is news when one of them acknowledges that Bush is not to blame for all of the nation's ills. The problem is, even people who think Bush is the root of all evil don't have to vote Democratic next year, since Bush will not be on the ballot. Perhaps Obama has woken up to that fact.

A Media Matters for America search of the Nexis database for articles or transcripts from 1999 found several instances of Bush blaming and attacking the Clinton administration on a variety of topics:

From Bush's appearance on the November 21, 1999, broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press:

TIM RUSSERT (host): Would you ever send American troops to a place like Haiti or Somalia?

BUSH: I strongly doubt it. I strongly doubt it.

RUSSERT: As you know, your dad...

BUSH: He did on what was called a humanitarian mission and as you know the current administration changed the mission.

RUSSERT: Was that a mistake initially to send 30,000 troops to Somalia?

BUSH: I'm not going to second-guess my good father. My good dad --

RUSSERT: How about Haiti?

BUSH: I think it was a mistake. I do. And I think we're -- and the reason why, we're overdeployed in America.

From an October 19, 1999, Washington Post article:

Whereas his father, former president George Bush, lost many battles with Congress because of what the governor called the “partisanship” of people such as then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine), the current gridlock is more “personal,” he said.

Bush faulted Clinton for failing to support bipartisan recommendations on Medicare reform that emerged this year from a commission led by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.). “I thought it was a missed opportunity for him to bring both parties together to achieve a common objective,” he said.

From a September 24, 1999, Cox News Service article:

Bush has sought guidance in crafting his overall defense and foreign policy views from a cadre of experts long on experience in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Retired Gen. Colin Powell reviewed Thursday's speech.

Bush laid much of the blame for the military's state on the Clinton administration, saying too few soldiers were being sent on too many far-flung peacekeeping missions.

“I will work hard to find political solutions that allow an orderly and timely withdrawal from places like Kosovo and Bosnia,” he said. “We will encourage our allies to take a broader role. We will not be hasty. But we will not be permanent peacekeepers, dividing warring parties.”

From a September 24, 1999, Los Angeles Times article:

On new weaponry, Bush said he would spend an additional $ 20 billion over five years to reverse a declining investment in military research and development. The Clinton administration has requested $ 35 billion to fund weapon research in 2000.

Bush faulted the administration for allowing defense spending to drop to the lowest level since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The downtrend, which began in the Bush administration as the Cold War ended, has shaved military spending by more than one-third.

From an August 12, 1999, Houston Chronicle article:

Responding to the shooting at a suburban Los Angeles Jewish community center, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush accused the Clinton administration Wednesday of lax enforcement of the nation's gun laws.

“This current administration has not done a good job of prosecuting gun laws,” Bush said. “In my judgment, if we can keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them and prosecute people who sell guns illegally, we will have done society a great service.”

Bush noted that the accused Los Angeles shooter had been convicted of a felony, but had not turned himself in to serve his sentence.

“If he had been brought to justice in a firm way, he wouldn't have been where he was,” Bush said.

From a July 16, 1999, Houston Chronicle article:

With both events in mind, Bush launched what a local political analyst called “an agri-pander” aimed at the state's important farming interests.

Bush, touring farm country on a bus, faulted the Clinton administration for not striking a deal with China on admitting the giant communist nation to the World Trade Organization -- a move that would make agricultural commerce easier.

Bush also promised in a speech in Waterloo never, if elected, to “use food as a sanction” in diplomatic disputes. Later, speaking to reporters, he said that pledge was good for “any country in the world.”

From a May 26, 1999, Austin American-Statesman article:

Sounding more like a presidential candidate than ever, Gov. George W. Bush on Tuesday moved quickly to stake out a position on the congressional report on Chinese espionage.

In recent weeks, on other issues, Bush has taken some heat for being cautiously evasive on presidential campaign issues. On Tuesday, armed with a prepared statement, Bush jumped in shortly after U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox issued a 700-page report detailing Chinese theft of U.S. nuclear weapon technology.

Bush, who plans to formally announce his candidacy later this summer, placed the blame squarely on “the current administration,” a phrase targeted to include Vice President Al Gore, his potential 2000 opponent.

Bush also allowed room for some blame of previous administrations, including his father's. But, without mentioning President Clinton by name during his statement, the candidate-to-be came down hardest on the current White House resident.

“Today's report also shines a glaring light on the current administration's failed policies toward China,” Bush said. “Presented with detailed information about China's espionage, the administration apparently did not take it seriously, did not react promptly and is still trying to minimize the scope and extent of the damage done.”