The new ABC poll is devastating for the Republicans. Simply devastating. Just 25% of Americans think the White House is fully cooperating with the investigation, and 75% think this is a "serious" or "very serious" matter. The shameful effort to smear Wilson is apparently not doing them much good, and at this point the endless spin is probably more about keeping their own troops in line than it is about convincing the independents of anything. Less than half of Republicans think the White House is fully cooperating with the investigation. Less than half. This issue is toxic to the Republicans, and they know it. They may not have known it yesterday, but they do now. And this means that it is time to start wedging the Republican moderates until they break ranks and start turning on Rove out of fear for their own survival.
More on the flip.
First off, being angry - really fucking angry - about the outing of a covert CIA officer shouldn't be a partisan issue. Whoever did this endangered our national security, plain and simple. THEY PLAYED POLITICAL GAMES WITH OUR SAFETY. So for any wingers reading this diary, thinking about how I'm politicizing the issue: FUCK YOU. Its not my fault your guys did this, and its not my fault your party doesn't have the guts to stand up and condemn this treasonous behavior. If you really wanted this issue to not be political you'd stop smearing Wilson. You'd stop parsing words and fudging legal terms. You'd stop acting like the corrupt, amoral twits that you are. Rove started this by spreading information he shouldn't have for political purposes, and you continued to politicized this by rallying around him when you should instead be standing up for what is right. You are the ones who will have to face God in Heaven and answer for your mendacity.
Which brings me to the moderates. Chafee, Snowe, Collins, and all the other so-called moderate Republicans need to make it very clear where they stand on this issue. Loving your country and being deeply concerned about its safety should not be about partisanship. But the way our elected representatives respond to this issue SHOULD be about politics. The way they behave speaks volumes about their character, their commitment to our security, their willingness to speak the truth even when it might be politically difficult to do so. And so, we need to ask, very clearly and very loudly, if these so-called moderate Republicans approve of the White House continuing to employ Rove. Anyone who has been paying attention knows enough to know that Rove acted unethically, that he was playing politics with sensitive information, and that he cannot be trusted with the secrets of this country. I know it, and you know it. Does John McCain know it? Does Olympia Snowe know it? Does Mitt Romney?
I suggest we start with Chafee. Chafee was willing to take on Delay because he knew he had to in order to survive the next election cycle. The same logic applies here. Everyone in Rhode Island should start asking - very, very loudly - whether or not he thinks Rove should lose his security clearance, be fired, etc. He'll almost certainly hedge, but with enough pressure we might just get him to go on record. And even if he doesn't, that in itself is a legitimate line of political attack. Why does Lincoln Chafee care more about protecting Karl Rove's job than he does about the national security of our country?
We should also pressure the moderate presidential wannabes. If this White house really is about to implode - and God knows it just might - it could take down the next Republican presidential candidate with it. These guys can't get to the White House through the far right anyway, and at this point that's the only group that seems willing to believe the Republic spin on this issue. Taking on Rove might just be a good career move for somebody like McCain, Pataki or Romney. After all, they are all trying to figure out an alternate path to the White House - and publicly dumping on Rove in his hour of need just might just be it. It would certainly get them a lot of media attention, that's for sure. I know, this probably isn't going to happen - but if this thing keeps churning like they have been the issue is going to have legs whether or not Rove gets indicted. The more we pressure them now the easier it will be to use their failures to act against them in 2008, no matter how all this plays out.