......................
It's been nearly two years since the Terri Schiavo case catapulted the right-to-life debate to the forefront. Now, it's even playing a role in Florida’s governor race. In their final debate this week, Democratic congressman Jim Davis and Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist were asked if they spoke up against federal involvement in the Schiavo case. “It's an issue that was out there and was very hotly contested for a while, but now I think it's kind of downgraded to just another issue that people are trying to make some headway at and probably not very successfully,” political media consultant John Van Gieson said. Crist also says his office was involved in the Schiavo controversy, when it defended Florida law in a court hearing on the matter, saying the federal government had no right to get involved.
They both said yes. But, Davis argued he voted against intervention while Crist refused to take a position. Crist says he told colleagues how he felt, and that his public silence communicated his feelings.
Despite all this, political veterans don't think the issue will have an impact come Election Day.
Election 2006: Schiavo’s Impact
8mm
To paraphrase Mark Antony's eulogy of Julius Caesar, "I have come to bury the Republican Congress, not to praise it." While I may be premature, there is a good chance that on Tuesday, the nation will rescind the 1994 Contract with America and restore a Democratic Congress (at least partially).
Snip...
After all, it was the party of small and non-intrusive government that increased the size and powers of the government at the expense of civil liberties. It was the party of fiscal restraint and accountability that turned a record surplus into a record deficit and refused to hold the administration accountable for anything whatsoever. Even worse, with the Clinton impeachment and Terry Schiavo affair, the party gleefully pursed "extremism for the ake of extremism."
A Brief Eulogy for the Republican Congress
8mm