President George W. Bush recently disappointed or even infuriated conservatives, by taking positions at odds with those of most conservatives, and those of the Republican candidates for the presidency Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Just think about his lax position on illegal immigration, his (recent) failure to push for conservative principles, or to take further measures to fight the war on terror. 

Could it be that by doing so, he strengthens Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney?

In effect, this results in Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney looking very different from George W. Bush. Since most Americans will reject any candidate bearing a ressemblance with the current President and his administration, this actually helps Republican candidates. It allows them to differentiate themselves from the Bush administration. You want to put an end to the Bush era? Then Giuliani and Romney, not Democrats (who are as soft as Bush) are your men.     

Do you need an illustration? Look at France. Nicolas Sarkozy, who got elected on a very conservative platform, is in Jacques Chirac's political party. But Chirac, by leaning to the left towards the end of a presidency that French people wanted to end, laid the foundations for a victory of the (true) right.

If that is true, American conservatives should brace themselves for more disappointment on the part of the Bush administration, but also realize that it makes a Republican victory in 2008 more likely. Since George W. Bush does not have much political capital and cannot do much at the moment, his softness and abandonment of conservative principles might be in the best long-term interests of conservatives.