Thursday, July 20, 2006

The Upside Revisited

About 10 months ago, I wrote here about how it wasn't really a bad thing that the Republicans managed to stay on top after the 2004 elections because that meant that everything for the next 2 or 4 years that went wrong (and certainly there have been enough things going wrong) would be blamed on the Republicans.

And, since basically everything that has gone wrong before and since then (except for Katrina, and even then) has been more or less managed/mismanaged by Republicans, I figured that keeping the blame with them was fair. Add to that the new/renewed accusations of corruption, underhanded governance, shifty politics, and dubious policies, and finally... now... the American public might have had enough.

Over the last 10 months, everything has gone exactly as I expected it would.

But, you want a true sign that the Republican establishment is in serious trouble, here it is: Ralph Reed — a huge name in the "non-elected" cadre of the conservative elite — decided to run for the underwhelming office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia and lost... in the PRIMARY.

That is to say, with only registered Republicans voting, this celebrity conservative couldn't get enough votes to even be allowed to be a Republican candidate for a mid-shelf office in the state where he was, just a few short years ago, the primary force behind a Republican sweep. He lost by 20 friggin' points to a relatively unknown state senator. He lost because of his association with that infamous "disgraced lobbyist", Jack Abramoff.

That culture of corruption and extremism is finally coming home to roost. (The fact that fellow Georgian, Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, of Capitol-police-slapping fame, found herself in a primary runoff enforces that point.)

The last 20 months of Republican-controlled government are really what did it. Americans are starting to recognize the problems with the neoconservative patronage of Congress. (They've always been a little slow.) If Kerry had won the election, it would likely be a completely different story, as the focus and dialogue would have shifted.

Without a President Kerry, the only thing the Republicans can point their blaming fingers at is The New York Times. Without a President Kerry, the only thing the American public can point their blaming fingers at is the Republicans.

After this coming election, expect the Republicans to turn on President Bush in a big way. Expect the American public to follow suit.
UPDATE:

Hmm... Looks like I'm right again, except in timing: As I was writing "expect the Republicans to turn on President Bush", the Washington Post was writing about how the Republicans are turning on President Bush.

I rock.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a wonder to me how people on the left are soooo convinced of their correctness on issues. Republicans seriously in trouble???? Are you sure?
Lets see. Republicans (it was a primary) rejected one of their own who had fallen in with unsavory folks.
It seems to me the Dems are doomed because they lack the ability to cleanup their own ranks. I may be wrong, but I see the Republicans adding to their majority.

Jil Wrinkle said...

New Poll Confirms: Hispanics Have No Confidence in Republicans' Failed Leadership

Incumbents Try To Shake Do-Nothing Image (Fox News)

"If the election for Congress were being held today, would you be voting for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate?" (31% R, 44% D) (Wall Street Journal)

Those are from just the top page of Google News search for the keywords "poll Republican Congress"

"I may be wrong"? You is wrong, my friend. Remember "the taint of corruption" all the Republicans trying to replace Tom Delay were talking about? They were right.

Oh... and if you want one more example of how screwed the Republicans are, "unsavory folks" or not, I only need mention one more name: Rick Santorum.

Anonymous said...

....ah...I see the problem, common error from the "finger-in-the-wind" crowd. You looked at the polls.

Jil Wrinkle said...

Yeah... those damn Wall Street Journal and Fox News polls. Can't trust those liberal media outlets. They've never been right once in history, and the questions they ask are always twisted to favor the Democrats and... well... besides, in polls, everybody always gives the wrong answers just because it's a poll. It doesn't mean anything. Yeah. Because I said so. So there. Nyah.

(Boy, I sure told off that Jil, didn't I?)