I love polls and elections.
You love polls and elections.
We all love polls and elections.
Why? Because they have the power to affirm our deepest hopes for America. They reassure us that people are finally getting it. They give us hope that we really may be taking our country back.
But, there's something even more important happening out there, and I'm going to start by saying you won't find it in the polls or the election results.
No. Ignore both those things. And look to the one place that demonstrates the undeniable truth that the Republican coalition is falling apart at the seams: The Republican Party itself.
Take a look at what just happened with Plan B: held up forever by a politically-motivated FDA on baseless grounds. Incredibly, just like that, 10 weeks before a crucial election all fears are allayed and it's approved for over-the-counter sale. Oh yeah, did I mention that Republicans in moderate Northeastern and Midwestern districts were getting hammered on this? Surely, this announcement is a coincidence.
Take a look at Rep. Chris Shays' statement today, where he said that maybe a time-table for withdrawl is not such a bad thing. Sure looks like some of the old so-called "cuttin' and runnin'" to me. Of couse, it is merely a coincidence that Chris Shays got religion on this issue during the fight of his poltical life up in Connecticut.
I had this thought last night.
I came across both these tid-bits today.
And, trust me, this list is going to get longer and longer before it's all over.
Why does this matter? I'm glad you asked. Because, especially if you are in the House, you can't run to the middle for 6 months and then go back to your old ways. The election cycle is too fast. So, even if these Republicans from moderate districts survive, and even if the Republicans hold the House and the Senate, they aren't going to be in any position to support Bush on any of his more obscenely idiological crusades. Even better, they are going to be a constant pressure on him to keep things straight-up-the-middle.
And without this group, it is impossible for Bush to invade Iran, pass idiotically draconian immigration reform, monkey with Social Security, abolish the Estate Tax. And if the Republican Party doesn't stand for those things, it stands for nothing. And, if it stands for nothing, the Democrats will have the ability, in 2008 and onward, to start defining the national agenda.
Yes, I love polls and elections. However, the moderates ebb and flow, and the populace changes its heart-felt beliefs on the basis of whether Coulter or Franken is on the best-seller list. But if you want a real canary in the coalmine -- if you want living proof that the agenda and the initiative is soon going to be there for the taking -- they're all over the place.
And you'll know them by the symol "(R)" attached to their name.