I'm not convinced it simple gutlessness. There must be something more at work here. Perhaps Conservatives are, well...just too conservative and don't like to make waves. Or, my favorite theory is that after someone's been in Washington for any significant length of time, they become seduced by the dark side. Prestige, power, money are all potent aphrodisiacs.
can’t prove the following but my strong hunch is that lots of Rs succumb to implicit and/or explicit forms of MSM blackmail, i.e., every R. knows that if you say or do certain things to expose Demagogue corruption and depravity you will get a personal thrashing in the MSM for the rest of your life......
some have the courage and fortitude to face such a prospect, but most don’t
.... just think of the continual smears and vicious hostility directed at Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, not to mention Rush Limbaugh, etc..... and then think of how much less well positioned the typical Senator or Representative would be to fight back against such a MSM onslaught or even to get his/her message out at all.
.... then of course assuming one has any personal failings or misdeeds at all, even an unpaid parking ticket, count on the Mediascum to abuse any slightly conservative figure who is not pretty docile.....
I’m not justifying cowering before the MSM, simply noting that the threat of public humiliation, abuse, and degradation must be daunting to all but the very toughest public figures who would dare to really challenge the Demagogues and their Mediascum allies.