Poor attack puppy Ken Mehlman. Come November, his party may lose control of the House, and if things go really, really well, they might lose the Senate too (a girl can dream, can't she?) A recent RNC memo details how Republicans think they can retain their majority status: by clinging to Bush and the "W" brand. The
memo, written by pollster Jan van Lohuizen for RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, demonstrates the internal debate about whether to embrace Bush or avoid him. There's a lot of good stuff in there, but I'd like to focus on aspect of the memo:
The President is seen universally as the face of the Republican Party. We are now brand W. Republicans. The following chart shows the extremely close correlation between the President's image and overall ratings of the party.
President Bush drives our image and will do so until we have real national front-runners for the '08 nomination. Attacking the President is counter productive for all Republicans, not just the candidates launching the attacks. If he drops, we all drop.
If he drops? IF he drops? I'd love to see that correlation chart he attached to the memo. Maybe he was looking at it upside down?
This is what happens to a party that spends so much effort on branding and not enough effort on, you know, actually implement a decent policy. Republicans can't splinter off from Bush because they don't have anything to independently stand on. What will GOP incumbents point to? The soaring deficits? The lack of funding for national security? Their failure to demand an exit strategy for Iraq? There is no independent record to run on when you're a rubber-stamp Republican.
Indeed, what we are witnessing with the Republican Party is a case of separation anxiety. They know they have to distance themselves from the President--after all, he is one of the most unpopular Presidents ever. But gosh darn it, they just...can't...do it. Because without the specter of Bush looming over them, Republicans feel naked and vulnerable. Little do they know that specter casts over the entire party a dark shadow of discontent and incompetence.
Let them cling to Bush for their political lives. Let them cling to the sinking ship and hope they can keep their head above water. If this President keeps up his ratings free-fall and his dangerous incompetence, Republicans will be gasping for air come election day.
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