I have to wonder how sincere Douthat is about ranking W worse than Obama and Trump. I'm certainly no fan of George W. Bush - I voted against his reelection in 2004. His combination of tax cuts and spending increases set us on the path of ever-growing deficits that imperils our country's future. But Obama further accelerated the deficit growth, even as he acknowledged the problem; and Trump accelerated the deficit growth even more, while completely ignoring the problem. On foreign policy, Bush bit off more than he could chew and often executed it badly. But Obama began the abdication of America's international role, which Trump then continued. Obama was strong on trade policy, but otherwise I don't see anything for a conservative to like. Trump was horrible on trade policy.

So, I have to wonder whether Douthat's ranking of W as the worst is just a pose, or if he's not really a conservative at all.