Anybody remember the House Republican pronouncement from a few months ago that the leadership wouldn't bring a bill to the floor that didn't have the support of a majority of the GOP Conference? I can't seem to dig that cite up now.
But anyone who's got it ought to bring it out now. Last night, grytpype tipped us off that the WaPo had some CBS numbers on the Terry Schiavo issue:
Aggravating GOP frustrations are disturbing new polls, including a CBS survey that found that 82 percent of Americans -- including a whopping 68 percent of people who identify themselves as evangelical Christians -- think Congress's intervention was wrong.
Equally money:
One senior GOP lawmaker involved in the negotiations, who did not want to speak for the record, said that DeLay, who is fighting ethics charges on several fronts, faced considerable pressure from Christian conservative groups to respond to pleas by the parents of the brain-damaged woman to intervene before her husband, Michael Schiavo, removed the feeding tube that kept her alive. The lawmaker said that DeLay "wanted to follow through" but added that many House Republicans were dubious and suspected that the leader's ethics problems were a motivating factor.
How many moderate and conservative House Republicans have bills languishing for lack of majority support among the GOP conference, while Bill and Tom's Exigent Adventure blows right by them, races to the floor, passes, explodes in their faces, and potentially hangs the "overreaching" anchor around the neck of every Republican running for office anywhere in the nation?
Free advice to the House GOP: If you're still considering shielding DeLay from his ethical problems because of his successes in building your majority, consider instead a little political capital "profit taking." With your Leadership dragging you on a solo call into a national debacle sitting at just 18% support, it's time to think about dumping your DeLay stock.