What could be more democratic than writing to one's hometown newspaper? Especially when one lives in a conservative-leaning community, as I do, the prospect of converting but one fence-sitter to my view is the essence of progress at a grassroots level. Here's my latest letter to the editor:
I normally disdain political statistics, but the numbers are stunning. According to a consensus of polls, the President's approval rating is 34%. The Vice President's is 18.
That's shocking territory, considering the percentage of self-declared conservative Republicans is at least twice the lower figure, and presumably hasn't declined. It begs the conclusion that the President has hemorrhaged members of his side who can no longer support the leader of their party.
Less obvious though more intriguing may be what these numbers suggest about Bush's famous emphasis on loyalty from insiders since his earliest governing days. It is this same quality Bush apparently assumed would keep the party faithful faithful regardless of his actions - or inactions - from the moment he assumed office until he left. Not truthfulness, certainly, nor honor, nor dedication to reality, nor diligence, competence, but loyalty has been demanded, and received, from one bogus policy through another indefensible cause. Since he'll never tell, one can only imagine Karl Rove calculating that party loyalty would carry his guy through periods of sustained cognitive dissonance when the observer didn't know whether to believe Bush's reassurances or one's own conflicting perceptions.
Of course, maintaining a Republican majority in Congress is as essential as it is beyond Rove's control. As long as Bush can run out the clock on the remainder of his term before his numbers hit rock bottom, he may resign himself to merely completing it and willfully ignoring history's judgment.
But it won't be easy. Already the bitter, vindictive, told-you-so books by fellow conservatives are approaching critical mass. Everything from you're no small government advocate to the catastrophe of invading a non-threatening country are beginning to persuade other conservatives that their instinct to question Bush may have been on-target all along. This would accelerate his eroding numbers while the Vice President's, after Mr. Whittington's unfortunate experience became a metaphor for Cheney's secretive arrogance, hardly require explanation.
Indeed, at the current rate, by the time Bush retires, his only supporters will be those who personally benefit - monetarily and otherwise - from Republican rule, and those whose authoritarian nature defies common sense. One is to be reviled, the other pitied.