Today's
Boston Globe has an article on the Bush private accounts campaign. It talks about pessimism form Hastert, Leach, and Grassley, but focuses on Representative Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida. She is usually a reliable Bush supporter. But, the more she talks to her constituents, the further she moves away from Bush on Social Security. There are a number of telling details on the current state of the campaign.
Soft quacks of a lame duck:
- ProgressForAmerica, the pro-privatization group, is buying TV spots in Brown-Waite's district, urging her to support the Bush proposal.
- Brown-Waite gets snarky about Bush: "Let me tell you the difference between a GWB town-hall meeting - George W. Bush - and a GBW - Ginny Brown-Waite - town-hall meeting: I don't load the audience with just the choir."
- The Club for Growth is threatening to run candidates against Brown-Waite and other Republicans who don't support privatization in the 2006 primaries.
As Josh Marshall observed months ago, the Bush '60 stops in 60 days' tour is aimed not at winning over converts and putting pressure on congressional Democrats. It is instead aimed at bringing his own party into line, and it is failing.
Four takeaway points on this:
- The strategy of leaving the Bush proposal out there alone, with no Democratic counter-proposal, is working. The focus of the public and the press is on the Bush proposal, and that focus is increasingly negative.
- Privatization proponents are being forced to concentrate their campaign on Republicans. Every TV ad aimed at Brown-Waite depletes their treasury of funds they might have used against Democrats.
- The litmus tests for loyal Republicans are becoming increasingly strict. In 2004, the right wing went after Specter. In 2006, they are going after the likes of Brown-Waite, who is "known as a solid Republican. She gets high ratings from conservative groups and proudly carries a gun during her in-state travels." This trend has to worry all but the most rabid right-wingers.
- We have wondered how we can keep the Social Security issue alive through 2006. The Club for Growth is here to help.
