This George W. Bush catches heat meant for that other guy

Just for the record, the "W" stands for Wayne.

And easy on the wisecracks. George W. Bush has heard them all.

Bush, 70, is a retired mechanic. He lives with his wife on a quiet street in Parkland, Pierce County. And he shoulders the dubious distinction of sharing the same name — middle initial and all — of one of the most unpopular presidents in modern American history.

It's an honor, he says. Bush is a big fan of the man. He's proud to say he voted for him twice.

But lately, he admits, things have been a little rough. Strangers call him, demanding answers. They go off about the war in Iraq, the job market, the economy. They want to know: What is he going to do about it?

As Bush the President winds down his final days in office, Bush the Mechanic has assumed an unlikely role: defender of the commander-in-chief. Such a name, after all, carries responsibility.

"A lot of people blame the man," Bush says. "He's the end of the line, you know? He's the fall guy. The buck stops with him. No matter what policy Congress makes, if it's good or bad, the president is going to get nailed for it."

And apparently, so does he.

Bush's phone rings at odd hours of the night. Someone who wanted to give him "a piece of their mind" once called collect from London. He declined the charges that time. But often, he takes the call.

"There was one guy, maybe a year ago, he called about 2 a.m.," Bush says. "He asks me, 'What are you gonna do about this Iraq situation? We need to pull out and we need to get the troops home.' "

Bush, weary from sleep, grew alert and played along.

"I says, 'Well, I'll have to ask my advisers first before I can do anything. I can't just arbitrarily pull out people without my advisers giving me some information on how I can handle the situation.' "

That threw the man a curve.

"They expect me to say, 'Oh shut up.' Or they think I'll start chewing them out. All they want to do is argue. Maybe they figure they can get to me and that satisfies them a little. People want to be heard, you know? So I ask them, 'If you were president, what would you do?' And most people don't have an answer. They just don't. I don't have the answer, either. Nobody does."

Bush says he never felt this way about a president before. A die-hard Republican who voted for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, he used to give nary a thought to the pressures of the job.

He was named after his father, also George W. Bush. When America's 41st president, George H.W. Bush, began his term in 1989, neither father nor son got much flak.

Then Bush the younger took office in 2001. The country went to war in 2003. And in the years since, the president's approval rating tanked, hovering around the 30th percentile.

Bush began to feel for the man. He wishes other people would, too. The president is just one person, he says. If you want to blame someone, he says, blame Congress.

He hopes to meet the president one day, he says. He'd like to share "war stories" of living life with his name. But most of all, he says, he'd like to thank him.

"You know what? I would say, Mr. President, I appreciate what you're doing," Bush says. "I don't envy you. I wouldn't want your job. But I wish you the best of health. And I'm proud to be American."

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com