Posted on 04/25/2005 12:07:45 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
ANGER ON THE RIGHT
There is an undeniable fury building among Republican voters coast to coast. It has now been almost six months since that euphoric day last year -- November 2nd -- when Republicans stunned Democrats across the board. Not only did President Bush handily beat John Kerry, but the GOP did what few predicted -- it managed to pick up four seats in the Senate. John Thune's victory over Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota was extra sweet.
That seems like six years ago, not six months ago. Talk to your average Republican voter today and you will find a mood that ranges from anxious/concerned to enraged/frustrated. Yes, the Iraqi elections were amazing. Yes, the President's commitment to the spread of liberty is stalwart. Yes, his European "Unplugged" tour was a necessary step. The focus here is not President Bush (although in an ideal world he would be stronger on the stump on issues beyond social security reform). After the mid-term elections, President Bush will be on his way out, a "short-timer." The future of the Republican Party depends more on what happens now in Congress.
So what has our Republican majority in both houses of Congress gotten us lately? Well, the Terri Schiavo bill-regardless of what you think about its merits -- was at least bold. Then there was the bankruptcy bill. Good stuff, though hardly the legislation that will get voters running to the polls next election.
Of course being in the majority sometimes requires deal-making. Sometimes it requires delaying victory on one issue in order to win support on another more important issue. But sometimes being in the majority just requires that you act like you are in the majority.
This year, with a Republican majority in Congress, we have watched as 20 percent of the President's appellate court nominees are left twisting in the wind. With a Republican majority presiding, we have watched as John Bolton, the President's nominee for U.N. ambassador, has been personally and professionally maligned. With a Republican majority, we have seen spending skyrocket to obscene levels. With a Republican majority, we have seen the Democrats out-maneuver Republicans in the public-relations game with lame lines and gross misrepresentations.
Okay, the Senate did pass tort reform.
But a bill here or a bill there is simply not going to be enough to stem the tide of Republican voters' righteous anger about what many are calling "Creeping Wimpiness." Did thousands of volunteers work tirelessly to give the GOP this majority only to allow the minority to roll them on judges, policy, and other nominations? Did millions of generously open their wallets to the RNC only to see John McCain, Chuck Hagel, Lincoln Chafee, and George Voinovich help the Democrats when we needed them most?
Now is not the time for Republican Senators to cling to niceties. It is not the time to call for more discussions or negotiations. Now is the time for action. Allowing the Bolton nomination to be delayed was unforgivable. (Chairman Richard Lugar was caught totally off-guard by Voinovich's joining the Dems push to delay the Bolton vote.) Allowing Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer to brand nominees such as Janice Rogers Brown (an African American California Supreme Court justice) "extreme", was a colossal mistake. Most of the country still does not know that never before in the history of this country has the filibuster been used to block a vote of an appeals court nominee!
The frustration felt by many GOP voters has created a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for conservative politicians. For the first time in decades, we have no clear front-runner for the next GOP nomination. For the first time since George W. started his presidential campaign in the late 1990s, there is no clear standard-bearer for conservatives to rally round.
If a senator or governor can seize this moment, and create the type of bond with conservatives that Bush created during his nomination battle with McCain, that person could be on his way to the White House. If no one steps forward, and conservative voters increasingly watch their party kowtow to the McCains, Hagels, and Chafees of the mushy middle, then those voters will disengage from this party, meaning that the mainstream press will enjoy covering the elections of 2006 and 2008 a lot more than they enjoyed the election 2004.
I'm just waiting for the Republican Party to call me for a donation. I pity the person on the other end of the phone because he/she will get an ear full.
Ever read the recent notes from Ted Olson on the subject?
Sorry, doesn't make backbones stiff, only other parts of the body.
Laura is hotter and at least as smart as Ann Coulter.
The "Gelding Old Party" will lose both the House and the Senate majorities next year unless they get their collective acts together.
runaway spending, illegals, judges...three strikes and yourrrr out!
The GOP doesn't appear to have a clue as to how to operate in the Majority...
add me
I honestly beleive there are some who want to return us to the stone age in many aspects. The world had changed since those great leaders wrote those words. We shouldn't abandon their intent, but we need to address todays realities.
Say What! Joesbuck, have ya been drink'in the water out of the Boston Harbor? OK, so you were Kerry's speechwriter.
Sure, its called paying your bills.
First off, they are wrong when they say 90% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. They are not unless you count drug addiction, alcoholism, and gambling addiction as "medical".
Second thought: just tell them to go tear up their credit cards if they don't like the rules of the road. Nobody is forcing them to use credit cards.
Sure, its called paying your bills.
First off, they are wrong when they say 90% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. They are not unless you count drug addiction, alcoholism, and gambling addiction as "medical".
Second thought: just tell them to go tear up their credit cards if they don't like the rules of the road. Nobody is forcing them to use credit cards.
But that document is amended, de facto, everyday by some Judge. In effect, the dems are amending that document to require a supermajority for federal judges. Can and should the Constitution be amended? Yes on both counts. But, our founding fathers made it so that willy nilly amending the Constitution is not easily accomplished. Hence why the document itself provides for a DEMOCRATIC process by which it can be amended.
No, as a matter of fact, I haven't.
All I'm saying is that we are supposed to live in a representative democracy, so the people we ELECT make the laws. The judges are supposed to INTERPRET, not make their own laws.
I'll let others add them. I don't want to hog ALL the bandwidth, nor take all the fun.
Very true.
Even if they got what they wanted, and in reality they really don't want it, they would still be unhappy.
Right. For if they got what they wanted, they'd lose what they "righteously" complained about. What they complain about is precious to them.
There is a class of people on both sides that thrive on outrage.
Right again.
Without outrage, they are no one.
Amen.
Quote: "I honestly beleive there are some who want to return us to the stone age in many aspects. The world had changed since those great leaders wrote those words. We shouldn't abandon their intent, but we need to address todays realities."
Then do so via the DEMOCRATIC PROCESS provided for within the Constitution (drafter amendment, 2/3 vote of both houses, followed by ratification), not by de facto rulings of the Courts. The Constitution may be a "living document" but it is only such if its current text is respected, instead of willy nilly ignoring the parts that are terribly inconvenient in order to obtain a result that "feels" right.
I seem to remember that we all felt the Supremes would knock down campaign finance reform which was enacted by our representative democracy, yet many felt was unconstitutional.
Have you heard about the latest trend? If you receive any RNC or GOP request for $ in the mail, send it back to them with NINE PENNIES taped to the paper. Write on it: "NOT ONE DIME until you vote on the Constitutional Option!" Feel free to add your own editorial comments as you see fit.
And if a few people fit into this category, how does this observation add to this discussion?
Most people who worked hard to get the president elected and a Republican majority in Congress expect them to accomplish the goals for which they were elected.
What's the point of them taking up space in Congress if not to do their JOBS?
Placemark.
Gotcha.
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