How Bad Will It Be? [Fred Barnes]

Weekly Standard ^ | 10/23/2006 | By Fred Barnes

[sgtyork]

Enjoyed the post. Must be tough working there.

[Prost1]

My supposition is that the republican campaign has not really started yet.

Rove & Co probably assume that voter attention is weak until the final ten days. Any news before then will evaporate.

Only hard core news junkies are paying attention and answering poll calls and their votes are decided.

The majority of americans do not care and still have not heard of Foley or know the names of Reid or Hastert or even Dick Cheney.

Just a guess.

[johnny7]

I tend to guess... the same way.

[Prost1]

And if one checks out this link:

Willie Brown says Angelides will lose election (Schwarzenegger speaks at Brown event)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1719006/posts

The democratic turnout in California does not look good.
With money and activism dropping in California for the dems, how sure a bet are they Oregon or Seattle?

[Miss Marple]

I am ok if they don't do anything productive (although confirming two Supreme Court justices was pretty good). I am more concerned about getting a Congress who will do harmful things, like raising taxes, defunding the war in Iraq, etc. That's why it is important to vote GOP, even if you are in a democrat district.

[HitmanLV]

Worse case scenario, "if" the 'Rats gain the majority in both houses, I doubt they would want to impeach GWB just to make Dick Cheney POTUS

The House can impeach Dubya with a majority vote, but there's no way they can get the votes in the Senate to remove him from office. A Cheney presidency isn't part of the plan and never was. the dems will keep Dubya mired in investigations and hearings for two years, making him look bad, while the MSM will insist that the impeachment proceedings are legitimate. Dubya will be impeached, humiliated, and politically weakened going into the 2008 elections. While he isn't on the ballot in 2008, the hope will be that the negative vibes will harm the GOP candidate in 2008. This has nothing to do with removal from office. It's politics. And revenge for the GOP impeachment of Clinton.

[Nuc1]

"I disagree withe Fred. The GOP holds on,"

GOP gains both houses. People are lying to the pollsters.

[johnny7]

Mehlman's done a hell of a job getting out the vote since becoming RNC Chairman. With him, Rove and a lot of money left to spend... I'm going to stay optimistic.

[hosepipe]

On the otherhand if the "RNC" takes up the meme of the culture of corruption and trots out Harry Reids (and his familys) land dealings and Nancy Pelosi and husbands scams, things could change..

Might change anyway because of the INTERNET.. and bloggers..

[Uncle Vlad]

Freddie and Billy need to get out of Washington more often.

[cynwoody]

Don't you see? The impeach Bush AND Cheney, and then Bela Pelosi HERSELF is the Prex.

Actually, if Bush thought he was going to be removed, he could just resign. Then Cheney would have to appoint a new VP — Newt? Then Cheney stays — or resigns or gets removed, making the Newtster the POTUS.

Remember how Watergate unfolded? In the midst of the main scandal, VP Spiro Agnew resigns over a corruption eruption from his days as Maryland governor. Tricky Dick appoints Gerald Ford to replace him. Then, when the Watergate "smoking gun" surfaces, Tricky Dick goes, making Gerry Ford the president. Then Ford famously pardons him and goes on to lose to the peanut farming nuclear physicist in 1976.

Actually, Miss America has no chance of becoming POTUS in any case, because (a) enough 'Rats will defect to prevent the passage of an impeachment resolution and (2) if the House did manage to impeach, the chance of removal by the Senate (67% needed) would be zero. However, what the 'Rats would do is to mount a massive investigation and hold lots of hearings, in hopes of improving their chances in '08.

That's assuming the Donks take the House. What's really going to happen is they're going to wake up Wednesday morning smelling sulphur fumes, and The Great El Diablo will be riding high and we will once again be basking in their rage.

Provided we GOTV!

[WashingtonSource]

Freddie and Billy need to get out of Washington more often.

Yes, indeed, and talk to some real people. Actually there are real people in the Washington area, but the 'elites' don't talk to anyone outside their tiny little club of insiders.

[Beagle8U]

I agree, keep those evil RAT bastards out of office.

[ripley]

"i've never been more motivated to crush the left....pop them like pimples when they try to claim fraud..."

amen.

[okie01]

The Foley scandal did two things, both harmful to Republicans. It stopped Republican momentum in its tracks. (Also contributing to this were the negative spin on Iraq from Bob Woodward's book State of Denial and the faulty reporting on the National Intelligence Estimate.) And it changed the narrative of the campaign from one emphasizing national security, a Republican strength, to one emphasizing Republican malfeasance...

Does Fred realize the full import of what he's saying?

That an election might turn on the flimsiest, most superficial kind of "scandal" simply because the media has intentionally distorted the landscape?

Is the American electorate really this vacuous and shallow?

I know the liberals believe us all to be ignorant rubes...but are we, really?

[ozzymandus]

Fred needs to get out of the beltway for once in his life. He and Mort are a second-rate comedy team, not political analysts.

[Truth29]

Before you conclude that it won't be the end of the world if the dems take the House and the Senate, consider that they will cut off funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, defund intelligence program and blame the following chaos and death on the GOP and Bush with the aid of the MSM. Seeing the US weakness, our allies and western fence sitters seek separate accommodation with the Muslims, etc. It may not be immediately the end of the world, but it is easy to project it into the EOW as we know it.

[bkepley]

--they will cut off funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, defund intelligence program--

If they try to do all that and the Republicans don't go ballistic I would be left to conclude that the west is pretty much finished and the Republican party is hopelessly decadent. Or possibly, the critics were right all along and Bush is a bonehead and the war was a collosal
mistake. Now if the Republicans go ballistic they are not
without resources. The Democrats found that out the last
time they tried to force things their way.

[nwrep]

Really odd thing about these "News Media" polls. Republicans are either in desperate trouble or tied EVERY election year. Democrats are NEVER in trouble in them ever. That seems a bit odd.

Not quite true. The 1994 pre-election polls showed the Dems in big trouble. So did the 1980 polls. Both times the GOP delivered historic victories.

[nwrep]

their experiment to win over liberals

Wow, please remind me when this experiment was carried out. When the GOP extended tax cuts, or renewed the Patriot Act, or voted to erect a border fence, or voted to nominate an solid conservative Justice Alito, or when Bush vetoed stem-cell research, or when missile defence spending was increased, or when the NSA ruling was appealed, or when anti-Israeli UN resolutions were vetoed? I must have missed the attempts to appease liberals by this administration.