Want Inspiration, Obama? Try George W.

Two wars, legalized torture, domestic wiretapping—what's not to like? Well, Barack Obama may not admire what President Bush has done, but Dubya's tenacity should inspire him, Jonathan Cohn writes in The New Republic. Bill Clinton and FDR are often touted as presidential role models, but Bush has left a strong mark "that no president since Lyndon Johnson can match," writes Cohn.

Pundits say that Obama's plans for energy independence, health care, and taxes are too radical and expensive, but Bush was just as extreme. "The difference is that Obama would be pushing in the opposite ideological direction and, if the polls are to be believed, in a direction that the country happens to favor," writes Cohn, who also prefers Obama—but concedes that Bush's AIDS program is underrated. (More Barack Obama stories.)