You may be too young to remember, but a PA state rep named Stephen Friend, ran against Arlen Specter once in the GOP primary. Friend was an anti-abortion, cult of life religious conservative before it was fashionable for Republicans. During the primary, he drove around the state in a van while blaring the ND Fight Song over the loudspeaker to prove how "catholic" he was. During the last debate, iirc, between he and Specter, at the very end, Friend freaked out and spouted some really crazy religious rhetoric while the debate was still on the air. All these years later, I still remember thinking that Friend was as loony as could be. I wasn't alone in my opinion. After that debate, whatever support Friend had evaporated and his political career was over. His son later ran for the state legislature and was handily beaten mostly because voters remembered his dad's debate with Specter.

IMHO, that's what we have here. People got to see who's calling the shots in the GOP these days and, unsurprisingly, they don't like it. Americans have a strong libertarian streak and woe to those who don't understand that. The Dems were smart, smart, smart to just keep quiet and stand aside while the
Republicans exposed their true selves.

It's the nature of the beast that many people will choose anyone over the Reeps, until anyone becomes someone and that someone becomes the focus of the Reep slime machine.

Of course, eventually we'll have to reach the point where even a real live Dem is as attractive as a hypothetical one when compared to what the Reeps are offering. I'm just hoping the Dems will be willing to push that process along, preferably by growing a collective spine.

Dems have made the "Republicans want government interfering in your lives" argument before in connection with abortion, etc. I may just be blowing smoke out my ... but it seems that there might be a natural tendency to try and disassociate yourself from the abortion context and, hence, the inability to make this argument stick to the republicans.

That kind of dismissal to government action that intervenes into an end of life event is a lot more difficult. I heard somewhere recently that there are 35,000 people in America in a persistive vegetative state. There are a lot more who are in end-of-life circumstances and require medical decisions be made by spouses or family memebers. So, it is a whole lot tougher for the average Joe/Jane to convince themselves that they don't have to worry or be concerned about the Delay's and Frist's who want to reach into their personal lives and start making life and death decisions for them based on their "culture of life" morality.

Now, everybody grab a hammer and keep whacking this wedge day after day, after day, after ....

I've become completely pessimistic about all of this lately.

Mind your own business. Butt out. Get outta my face. Back off. Don't step on my blue suede shoes. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. Private property, keep out.

It goes on and on and on. Americans cherish their privacy and their independence. This thing is a big hanging curve ball sitting up like a melon to get smashed out of the ballpark.

Will the Dems show up? Do they have the killer instinct? Will Reid let the attack dogs out?

It's dog pile time baby! Dog pile on the bug man!

This is always the big question--do we have a political leadership capable of doing right by its base?  The potential is clearly there. But it was there in the 2004 election, too. Even when Kerry was the candidate. He was not doomed to lose. He was significant ahead in July, and had the tools at hand to keep growing that lead, but did not use them.

My feeling now is that the GOP has really hust themselves. The easy part is over now. The part where the Dems just had to keep out of the way while the GOPers self-destructed.  Now they've got to do something.  

I don't mean that in a stupid "the Dems have to have a Social Security plan"-sort of way. I mean it in a "don't let them get back on their feet"-sort of way.  

This was Kerry's big mistake last July.  He had Bush on the ropes. He never had a huge lead in the polls, he just had a solid one, poll after poll. It was there, it palpable, it was ready to be built upon. Then he went into the convention and told everyone to play nice, just when he should have been crippling Bush, backing him into a corner he could never get out of.  

Well, it's about as deju vu as it can possibly get, given that it's not an election year. But we've got a real chance to pound these chumps into the ground.  And we're going to have to do that hard, because they've got all the institutional power on their side. We've got to make them afraid to use it. That's a mighty tall order. Much taller than Kerry faced last year. Our one big advantage: no organized Kerry campaign telling us not to disturb things.  

So the big question is, what do we want to see the Dem's leadership do? And what do we do on our own, both to pressure them to do that, and to put pressure on the GOP, regardless of what the Dem's leadership does.

Start with Eliot Spitzer in New York. Continue with 5 State Senators to turn the state government over to the Democrats. Reform the "most dysfunctional legislature in the nation" into a functioning Democratic one that gets The People's Work done.

At the same time we elect Reform & Responsibility Democrats to the House and Senate across the nation.

As long as we keep our house clean it becomes a steamroller.

In regard to the first point-all I have seen is the poll that Chris has posted, which only says Republicans are more likely to interfere.  I havent seen anything directly in this poll which says whether or not people approve or oppose this.  I guess because the polling question used the term "interfere," which has a negative connotation, it is probable that people dont like what the theocons are doing, but I wish that question was asked in the poll.  In regard to the second point, this is a matter of how important this issue is to those who disapprove of the theocons' actions.  Again, I wish that Gallup asked the question "is this more or less likely for you to vote for the Republicans" or even better, or even better, "much more likely to vote Republican, a little more likely . . . " etc.

Personally, I think it is only going to have a minor impact, if any.  Then again, every little bit helps.

Never ever try to pin down the holy father,
or any good thing that our race has done -
to the personification of one man.

Who says santorum is a christian? Satan.
Who says Delay is godly? Lucifer.

Bush, on the other hand, is a good son.
And if you can meet him where he lives,
he plays 18 holes in 2 hours 45 minutes
and never once takes a mulligan.

I swear it.

Matthew 25:40,
lets rolll!!!

Hi, super site, good themes! Luisia Kanthata Mandale Mirindala Alrosa Benedita Blog Lucy Brenda Thank you!