Hey, Mr. Howell, though you might appreciate a roundup of articles from ground central of the liberal communist socialist media conspiracy to throw sand in the works of the well oiled W/G.O.P. machine. The post I'm responding you seems to put you in the middle of the conspiracy too, so you should appreciate the news even more.
First, the always reliable communist reprobate and old Nixon hand William Safire:
The 'McCain Majority' nytimes.com
The primary message of Michigan -- one of the must-win "battleground states" in November's election -- is that John McCain would win the state for the G.O.P. and George W. Bush would probably lose it.
That doesn't bother leaders of the religio-political right. Echoing the cry of the commander of the British Middlesex Regiment at an 1811 battle -- "Die hard, men, die hard!" -- they would rather die hard than win. That's why we hear the lame excuse from them that McCain's victory was somehow tainted by the outpouring of independents and Democrats.
And so on. Another op-ed piece, favorable to W in general but somewhat unimpressed by W's current strategy:
Bush's Secret Weapon: Congress nytimes.com
When it comes to politics, it's smart to play your cards straight. George W. Bush's problem is that he hasn't done that, and voters know it.
How can Governor Bush turn back John McCain? He must stop trying to morph into McCain Jr. (the "reformer with results") and start using his strong point -- that he is part of the Republican establishment.
Yes, being the favorite of the Republican establishment is supposed to be a weakness -- the public having no love of the Beltway crowd. But Mr. Bush's attempts to evade this truth about himself have done nothing but paint him into a corner. He has tacked so far to the right that even if he wins the nomination, he will soon have no hope of winning the general election.
Mr. Bush's victory in South Carolina, just days before the Michigan contest, came at a high cost. His wooing of evangelical Christians, the support they gave him and his appearance at the conservative Bob Jones University repositioned him well to the political right in the public's perception. Long gone is the "compassionate conservative" tone that he preached earlier in the year.
On to the news:
Shock and Recriminations in Bush Camp After Losses nytimes.com
One day after Gov. George W. Bush's twin losses to Senator John McCain in Michigan and Arizona, many of his staunchest supporters said they were shellshocked. And Mr. Bush himself regrouped by agreeing to a debate in Los Angeles next week, by ripping up his schedule to add a trip this weekend to Washington State, where Mr. McCain is waging an energetic race, and by questioning the senator's Republican credentials.
The voting on Tuesday not only revived the threat of defections to the McCain camp, but also set off recriminations from inside and outside the Bush organization, including members of Congress and the Republican National Committee who had eagerly rallied behind Mr. Bush.
They complained about everything from Mr. Bush's lavish spending in Arizona -- where Mr. McCain was the favorite son -- to his embrace from Pat Robertson, the founder of the Christian Coalition, to his decision to blame his defeat in Michigan on Democrats who "hijack the primary to help Al Gore."
"Some R.N.C. members are saying: 'What is going on here? He's getting his hat handed to him and he can't put down the rebellion,' " said Steve Duprey, chairman of the Republican Party in New Hampshire who has remained neutral. "And that makes them nervous. They're also nervous about the incredible number of new people signing on to vote for McCain."
Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, an early Bush supporter, said he was especially disturbed by Mr. Bush's reaching out to religious conservatives.
"This Robertson stuff and the hard turn to the right really hurt him," Mr. Upton said. "I think Bush is still the favorite if you're at the betting table. But he's got to change his message and be inclusive."
From another angle:
Right-Wing Baggage Puts Drag on Bush Caravan
nytimes.com
When his campaign plane touched down in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday night, all that Gov. George W. Bush really had to do was acknowledge the bad news from Michigan, utter a few platitudes, paste a brave face over defeat and put a smiling face on his expectations for the next Republican contests.
But he also did something else, something out of the ordinary, something that spoke to a growing problem in his candidacy and to much of what had gone wrong.
"Let me make it crystal clear," Mr. Bush said loudly. "I reject bigotry, I reject prejudice, I repudiate anti-Catholicism and racism." . . .
But Mr. Bush's statement also suggested a jarring, almost surreal change of political fortunes: somehow, a candidate who began his bid for the presidency with crossover dreams managed to pick up enough right-wing baggage that he found himself in the strange position of having to offer voters this kind of reassurance.
You're in some bad company here, Mr. Howell, with me and all these NYT types, scratching our heads at why W's gotten so off track, instead of blaming it all on the media and Democrats like good Republicans should. In retrospect, the oddest thing to me seems the big deal made about the S.C. primary, and why McCain chose it as his 2nd target to begin with. It only makes sense with McCain running as a conservative, everything I read about S.C. put it about as far right as any state. What were W's handlers thinking, trying to outflank McCain on the right there? Of course, nothing succeeds like success, so it's more understandable that W's people would try to repeat the strategy in Michigan. Not intelligent, but understandable.
Again, regardless of popular sentiment, W's likely to come out of March 7 looking good in delegates, with the closed N.Y. and California primaries. A take on the N.Y situation at nytimes.com , California could be a bit embarrassing for W, with him getting all the delegates from the closed delegate selection vote, while McCain wins the beauty pageant.
All entertainment to me, of course, but this particular thread seems to be headed for the same "big tent" diversity that Bush's handlers are shooting for, apparently hitting their own feet instead. W has my sympathy, I really don't think he'd have chosen this path on his own, but that's politics.
Cheers, Dan. |
