Between now and November 7th, in a period of just 235 days, a tidalwave of events will occur which, on the surface, will appear to collectively represent the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Republican Party.
Abramoff will be sentenced. Soon after, a varitable St. Patrick's Day Parade of House Republicans will be indicted on ethics charges. Civil War in Iraq will continue to escalate. The discourse with (and rhetoric regarding) Iran will grow more heated and more likely to result in military "pre-emptiveness." More Republicans will retire. A handful of major hurricanes will hit the United States. Gas prices will rise, predictably, around Memorial Day. Patrick Fitzgerald will wrap up his investigation of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, potentially resulting in more indictments, as he prepares his winter case against Scooter Libby.
The
deficit will soar to historic levels. The prospect of
ANWR drilling will create more bad polling for Republicans. Talk of
impeachment will continue to grow louder. Rumors of
Cheney's resignation will become rampant. Pressure on Bush to
clean (White) House will intensify. The idea of
censure will continue to grow on the American electorate. Additional details about
NSA wiretapping will likely surface, revealing the program to be even more invasive than originally thought. The
international community will continue to flip off the Bush administration. More
al Qaeda videotapes will be released, reminding America that our military attention is misguided. And so, so, so much more.
The bad news is: none of it will win back Congress for Democrats. The good news is: we control the outcome of the election.
Yes, the next 235 days will appear to tip the scales more and more in favor. But it's up to us to give it the final and decisive push.
Because in the next 235 days, Kossacks alone will donate millions of dollars and thousands of hours to winnable campaigns. We'll continue to barrage the media with letters to the editor in an effort to entrench public opinion. We'll escalate the pressure on our own Party to stand up and fight for truth and justice. We'll initiate real, civilized conversations with the 25% of voters who can still be swayed. We'll blog and blog and blog until we fully expose the dirty, illegal brand of politics that threatens the very foundation of our nation. We'll continue to demand that single, unified voice that has thus far eluded our Party leadership.
WE WILL CRASH THE GATE.
And that -- not the series of events above the fold -- will ensure our victory.
So, lest we think that this place, this community, this Kos addiction of ours is just a place to vent and commune with like-minded politicos and fill up tip jars and pat each other on the backs with diary recommendations -- think again. We wield an enormous amount of power in the next 235 days. And it's not an overstatement to say that more than half the country is counting us to harness it.
Carry on, Kossacks. And here's a green beer toast to the next 235 days.