Recent polls (The Associated Press exit poll at the Georgia Democratic primary) show the Democrats feeling very unhappy and even angry with President Bush. In the midst of this highly emotional time, the explanation may seem obvious: He’s such a Republican! This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

On economic issues, Bush has put budget deficits back on the national agenda.

The libertarian-oriented Cato Institute has called the Bush presidency a”betrayal” to fiscal conservatives, and Bush himself “the mother of all big spenders.” This unavoidable conclusion is inescapably proven by Bush’s distaste for the presidential veto power. In fact, he has yet to veto a single bill — a far cry from Clinton’s 17 and Reagan’s 22, during their first terms. In fact, discretionary spending (what Democrats like) has risen 18 percent since Bush took office.

Compare that increase to the first three years of his predecessors: Reagan oversaw a 13.5 percent decrease in term one and a 3.5 percent decrease in term two; one-timer Bush Sr. managed an 11.6 percent increase; Clinton handled a 0.7 percent decrease in his first term and an 8.2 percent increase in his second.

The primary defense some “conservatives” give Bush is that his spending binge represents a smaller percentage of the United State’s gross domestic product than Reagan’s deficits, which were largely caused by military spending. This excuse merely states anything but the worst is worthy of support.

Next they’ll try to tell us the largest budget deficits in U.S. history are somehow “responsible,” maybe even fiscally conservative.

Outside of federal spending, President Bush has shown his disregard for capitalist ideals as well. From corporate welfare to tariff wars, his true colors have come out. President Bush is simply not a Republican, and is best classified as a Democrat.

In addition to economic issues, Bush agrees on social issues with his fellow Democrats as well. The two chief Democratic candidates vying for nomination — John Kerry and John Edwards (before Edwards dropped out) — both voted in support of the so-called Patriot Act, which passed by a margin of 98-1 in the Senate. Both voted for No Child Left Behind, which is a massive and unfunded mandate — poison in Republican-speak.

Like Bush, neither Kerry nor Edwards support same-sex marriage. Gore didn’t either. This lack of support for equal rights reflects the unfortunate will of the majority of Democrats. According to the February CBS News poll, 55 percent of Democrats favor a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. On these major issues, the gap between President Bush and his fellow Democrats is negligible.

On foreign policy issues, both John Kerry and John Edwards supported the war in Iraq. Neither supported the $87 billion supplemental package, but did so for non-philosophical reasons. Both supported the war in Afghanistan. Apart from specific policy decisions, Bush’s reckless diplomatic behavior can be characterized as neither Democrat nor Republican, but simply incompetent. On the issues, however, Bush and the Democrats agree.

The environment is the one key topic on which President Bush and his fellow Democrats have a genuine disagreement. While Bush is perfectly fine to do away with the remaining natural environment in this country, most Democrats favor stronger protection of our earth, air and water.

Of course, presidential elections don’t come down to the environment — it’s the economy, stupid!

And on economic issues, Bush is a red, white and blue Democrat — from increasing spending on education by a fat 70 percent and bumping labor by 65 percent (according to the Cato Institute), to the growth of AmeriCorps and even the largest expansion in two decades of the GOP’s favorite punching bag — the National Endowment for the Arts.

Oh, the irony. The Democrats are working diligently to remove another Democrat from public office. Meanwhile, Web sites such as MoveOn.org are pumping the “Bush is Hitler” message, unaware that Bush’s presidency is one of the greatest things to happen to the Democratic party in a long time. After infiltrating the GOP, Bush popularized Democratic principles among Republicans from the inside.

For the Democrats, the November election is a win-win situation, because they’ll receive either a Democrat or a Democrat. For this reason, Democrats should just stop worrying and learn to love President Bush.