A Life was on line. Everything else including economic reform should be secondary for everyone.
As to the "religious right", perhaps you've noted that "conservatives" were also NOT in favor on any action on part of Congress and the president in this case. These same "conservatives" have delivered the same possibility they may no longer vote for the GOP. Are you worried about their continued alliegance?
If anything once the emotion calms down Christians will be more determined than ever to correct the Judiciary, and they'll seek the GOP as the vehicle to make this happen. Through ending filibusters..through insitance the GOP use its constitutional authority to discipline the Judiciary. It's already begun.
As progress continues on pursuing S.S. reform economic conservatives will stay onboard. Foreign policy remains strong, so will those that consider this the number one issue. Moderates are fickle, so this will be unlikely to still matter to them by the time of the next election. The only ones you might concern yourself with are those that are faithful to "state rights" above all. To them I state, Lincoln defied "state rights" more so than could ever be argued here, and he was RIGHT to do so.
Losing the nuclear option means losing millions of lives. Are those lives "secondary?"
As to the "religious right", perhaps you've noted that "conservatives" were also NOT in favor on any action on part of Congress and the president in this case. These same "conservatives" have delivered the same possibility they may no longer vote for the GOP. Are you worried about their continued alliegance?
I'm one of those conservatives. I have my limits. Those limits have been reached and exceeded by a wide margin. I have been repeatedly accused of Satanism and worse because I didn't agree in every jot and tittle of the Terri Schiavo mob's agenda, and I am appalled to hear that the GOP has hinge-head with respect to these people. I am suspending donations to the GOP until such time as I am satisfied that they have taken steps to prevent a repetition of this fiasco. I am not going to work GOTV in 2006 if the religious right remains in the driver's seat. And, if the Terribot mob doesn't cool it, I won't even bother showing up to vote. And the GOP is going to hear about it in detail.
Revile me all you want. Just don't expect my up-to-now-undying support in return.
Loyalty is a two-way street. The religious right has shown exactly zero loyalty in return for the tremendous loyalty given them in the past two weeks. Until they make it clear that they are going to go just as far in their loyalty to the GOP as the GOP did in loyalty to them, I am staying out of the political fray.
If anything once the emotion calms down Christians will be more determined than ever to correct the Judiciary, and they'll seek the GOP as the vehicle to make this happen. Through ending filibusters..through insitance the GOP use its constitutional authority to discipline the Judiciary. It's already begun.
The window slammed shut on the nuclear option because the less-than-fanatic end of the GOP caucus now has very real reason to question the judgement of the leadership.
The religious right just cost us bigtime. And they're threatening to cost us more because they didn't get their way. The GOP can either be really stupid, and try to appease them, or the GOP can start treating the religious right as the spoiled, ungrateful children that they act like. I will not support stupidity with my time, treasure, and talents.
I'm a state's right'er' who believes Lincoln was criminally wrong. But I don't believe this Schiavo matter was a state's right issue. The Gov and Leg of the state sided with the Feds and likely Gov Bush invited their intervention. This is a separation of powers issue and a necessary Constitutional confrontation between the judiciary and the other branches, one that Jefferson predicted would eventually be necessary because of the acceptance by the Federal judiciary of the Marshallian philosophy.