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  •  2 things come to mind (none / 0)

    I agree with the general idea in this diary but let me mention two things that came to mind:

    1. while people may not get excited about politicians defending the status quo, it is not something we should discard out of hand. Remember just recently the push for SS reform? People spoke up and it was pretty much DOA, Bush and the others hocking it looked pretty silly.

    2. Because of politically motivated redistricting many house seats make poor choice vs. life battlegrounds. The red seats get redder and the blue ones bluer. That means statewide races are the ones where abortion comes into play, and still then, there are very few instances where the electorate is bitterly divided on the issue. Chafee is a pro choice republican in new england, and Breuax was a pro life Democrat in Louisiana, neither of which is surprising.

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    by dre2k5 on Tue May 24, 2005 at 02:22:56 PM PDT

    •  Response to point 1 (none / 0)

      No arguments with point 2, but I want to respond to point 1.  SS came up in an off-year.  The Democrats understandably remained mostly silent and wisely let the Republicans hurt themselves on it.  Some Democrats felt the need to embrace the issue, but I doubt that they'll campaign on it.  Republican congressmen with half a brain are staying away from it.

      When the Republicans want to overturn a popular or simply good government program, Democrats have to play jui jitsu with it and not come out aggressively.  It certainly served them well with social security.

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