S00OO, they, the Dems, will come out lukewarm in opposition to the Circuit Court ruling. BUT, NOT strong enough to annoy their liberal base, but strong enough to be registered as an angry vote, so they are on record as going along with the Republicans and ergo not subject to being politically attacked.
Midterm elections are all about getting your base so pissed off that they run over broken effing glass to get to the polls.
Basically two liberal judges on the Ninth Circuit couldn't leave well enough alone and had to make the law an ass. This is the Constitutional equivalent of a McDonald's burning coffee cup case, but what's great is that its ridiculousness combines with its sheer widespread effect on an American institution, the Pledge. In an environment in which the Senate is at stake, this is the kind of business that could tip the balance way in our favor.
Folks, the two happiest men in the world right now are Karl Rove and Bill Simon.
This is a Godsend for us. As other posters have indicated, the President and his people have assiduously laid the groundwork for a "do-nothing" Senate charge to be laid at the feet of Tom Daschle and Pat Leahy. The charge of Obstructionism has been slowly but surely seeded into the minds of the voting public.
This is the kind of decision that will piss off, and I do mean piss off Conservatives, Republicans, and Reagan Democrats all over the United States. In the midst of a war against Islamic fascists, a Fruits and Nuts Federal Appellate Court tells us we can't have our kids say "under God" in classrooms? There is a reason Tom Daschle responded like lighting. He just realized that this kind of thing will not bode well for his protege, Tim Johnson.
His Senate Democrats are on the knife edge of defeat. The Little Dictator knows that the Republican base vote just got pissed off. He also knows that this decision satisfies some of his base liberals, but not enough to counter the anger that will arise from the Republican Party. In an election where everything is close, this tips things our way.
And Karl Rove is happy because he just had a big problem solved for him. He knew that his base liked the President, but he was not sure that that would be enough to get his base, plus the Marginal Conservatives, out to vote in the fall. Problem solved, imho. This is just the kind of wedge issue that will come as a shock to people all over the country as it hits the papers in the morning.
Bill Simon will benefit from angry voters as well, hopefully in places like Orange County and parts of Upstate.
I don't see a plus in this for Gray Davis.
Most of all, the President gets to say "see, I told you so! Now let me have my judges, Obstructionists!"
I don't see how all the "quick strategizing" on this one helps the Dims at all. This goes right to our argument about "liberal judges". I don't care if this decision reads like Strict Construction. It is Strict Construction taken to its extreme: the Framers never intended to drive God from the Public Square, they merely endeavored to prevent the establishment of a State Religion. It will be interesting to see how Scalia handles this, but in the meantime, we get to kick some butts.
Be Seeing You,
Chris