Musings over Morning Coffee
by DemFromCT
Fri May 16, 2008 at 05:02:41 AM PDT
This has been a really bad week for the Republicans. Not only are a slew of polls showing a disillusioned and pissed off electorate that wants little to do with the GOP (see ABC/WaPo: Bush At all Time Low (31), Obama Extends Lead Over McCain, Whom Do You Trust? Not the GOP and No One Wants To Be A Republican Part II), the MS-01 win for Dems is reverberating throughout the political world. More than that, it is setting the media narrative that Republicans are in trouble this fall.
The MS-01 stories completely wiped the Dem primary battles off front pages everywhere (and left even less room for McCain). Of course, that battle is just about over. So, given McCain's lack of money and need for exposure, and given Bush's "I am relevant, honest" status, our fearless leader decided to cross an unspoken line and attack Obama from overseas. The backlash was swift and fierce (and isn't over). It prominently included Hillary Clinton and even brought in John McCain, so arguably Bush in one fell swoop highlighted his own foreign policy failures (how much did gas cost today?), united the Democratic party, gave Hillary a chance to support the presumptive nominee and tied himself even closer to McCain. Nice job.
If anything, the week brought out many of the inconsistencies in McCain's positions (he contradicts himself frequently) and the difficulty he'll have in running away from Bush and the Republican party he was and is so much a part of.
The funny thing is that some Republicans like Pat Buchanan think this is great for the GOP because it talks about their strength (foreign policy and security). Yeah.
Perhaps the biggest surprise comes from the fact that Democrats are now trusted more when it comes to National Security and the War on Terror, an issue long considered a GOP stronghold. The latest polling, however, shows that 49% of voters now trust the Democrats more on this issue while 42% trust the Republicans more. This shift comes at the same time that confidence in the War on Terror has fallen significantly.
The fun thing running against Republicans is that they still think it's 2002. They also don't get that the national conversation won't stop being about the economy, health care, Iraq and the direction of the country because of any decisions they make. It seems to me that they haven't even grasped that they don't control the national conversation.
Even the idea that the California Supreme Court's decision that the GLBT community should not be considered second class citizens won't do much for the GOP. The Republican governor does not support a referendum to overturn, and neither presidential candidate is going to make this a flagship issue this fall ([no phony sanctity of marriage campaigns as distraction,] not with real concerns to be dealt with). The fall campaign is going to be more about issues than any recent Presidential campaign I can remember... not because the candidates want, but because the voters want.
Oh, well. I won't be the one to tell them. They'll have to figure out that one themselves.
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