Noam Scheiber of the New Republic suggests that Bush’s embrace of “democratic idealism” will resound to the Democrats’ benefit, since Democrats are the natural party of crusades for democracy. Andrew Sullivan agrees with Scheiber, expect Sullivan thinks it is not just Bush’s foreign polices which will benefit the Democrats (from Sullivan’s blog on Wednesday):

BUSH AND THE DEMOCRATS: Is Bush making America safe for liberalism? You betcha. Bush has legitimized a huge expansion of the welfare state, liberalizing immigration, and using force for democratization abroad. All the next Democratic president has to do to finish Bush’s hard work is to raise taxes to pay for it all. And by the time Bush is done, the deficits will be so enormous, tax hikes will seem defensible. Advantage: the left.
What Scheiber and Sullivan ignore is how even those parts of the GOP and the conservative movement that once opposed Big Government and global democracy are becoming increasingly comfortable with both under Bush. Christian right leader Gary Bauer actually praises Bush for adopting FDR-JFK “visionary” welfare-warfare liberalism, dressing it up in social conservative garb and selling it to the people as “compassionate conservatism.” With a “right” like this do we really need a left?