Saturday, March 25, 2006
GOP Strategy For Campaign Season
The GOP will be the beneficiary of President Bush's default strategy for trying to keep majorities in both chambers on Capitol Hill.
The plan is to be: All Fearmongering, All The Time.
President Bush on Friday provided a preview of his two-front strategy for protecting the Republican congressional majority in an ominous political climate: hammer Democrats on national security and the economy, and raise millions of dollars for embattled GOP candidates such as Rep. Michael E. Sodrel (Ind.).
At a luncheon fundraiser here, Bush repeatedly called Sodrel an indispensable ally in fighting terrorism, and emphasized his support for the military and a robust U.S. foreign policy. Sodrel, he said, "understands this is a nation at war" against terrorists intent on striking America again. It is imperative that voters elect candidates who know that "there is an enemy which hates those of us who embrace freedom and would like to strike us again."...
Election analysts say Republicans could lose seats, if not their House and Senate majorities, if the public's gloomy view of Bush, Congress and the direction of the country does not brighten this summer.A Democratic majority in the House or the Senate would be likely to launch hearings and investigations into the war and other issues, and would be positioned to stop the Bush agenda in the remaining two years of the Bush presidency. "The Democrats' plan for 2006? Take the House and Senate, and impeach the president," Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, warned in a fundraising e-mail sent to party members this week. "With our nation at war, is this the kind of Congress you want?"
I think Mehlman might be surprised to learn that, yes this is the kind of Congress that the people want.
That's why the goopers enacted the electronic voting legislation. Just in case things get worse for them.
Bush realizes, aides say, that he is no longer the political force he was in the days before the 2002 and 2004 elections, when lawmakers lined up for high-profile presidential visits. In fact, some lawmakers in tight races in swing states such as Ohio have passed on chances to appear side by side with Bush at recent events. Santorum, for instance, cited "scheduling conflicts" in skipping a recent Bush speech in his state but has not missed a chance to raise money with the president at private gatherings like the one held Friday night...
The short-term goal is stabilize Bush's low public-approval ratings by talking about the progress and prospects for victory in Iraq. The White House also hopes to minimize intramural GOP feuding with a skeletal domestic agenda.
"A skeletal domestic agenda" to promote sounds an awful lot like the emphasis will be on his patented "you're either with the Republicans, or you are sharing a cave with Osama bin Laden."
Bush knows he cannot allow the Congress fall into hostile hands. He may preface his warnings by appealing to the American people's dislike of losing wars, but political cover for Bush's extra-legal activities may be the bigger impetus for his efforts towards getting his GOP allies returned to Washington this November.
