From the Washington Post:
GOP Struggles To Define Its Message for 2006 Elections
Republican efforts to craft a policy and political agenda to carry the party into the midterm elections have stumbled repeatedly as GOP leaders face widespread disaffection and disagreement within the ranks.
Anxiety over President Bush's Iraq policy, internal clashes over such divisive issues as immigration, and rising complaints that the party has abandoned conservative principles on spending restraint have all hobbled the effort to devise an election-year message, said several lawmakers involved in the effort.
While it is a Republican refrain that Democrats criticize Bush but have no positive vision, for now the governing party also has no national platform around which lawmakers are prepared to rally.
In January, Bush laid out a modest menu of ideas on health care and energy independence, but Congress has made little movement on them. Senior White House officials consulted with lawmakers earlier this year about jointly crafting an agenda that would allow Bush and Republicans in Congress -- both suffering from depressed public approval ratings -- to get off the defensive. A Republican familiar with the process said these discussions did not result in a consensus.
New House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has been wrestling with the same problem, so far without success.
The struggles reflect philosophical differences among competing factions within the party, but they also underscore the political consequences of holding power. Republicans insist they remain united around core principles of smaller government, lower taxes and a strong national defense, but can no longer agree on how to implement that philosophy and are squabbling over their delivery on those commitments.
.............You can read the rest at the link above.
3 comments:
Unfortunately, it seems as though the Democratic response so far is to sit back and hope the Republicans commit political suicide. I love listening to Sen. Barack Obama speak, and was momentarily energized by Feingold's censure attempt. But aside from that, I don't see much life on our side. Someone who can rally people to take back the white house and the Congress.
I still see the biggest danger as the voter-fraud that the repukes used so effectively on 2000 & 2004. They can deflect attention away from that by pretending to have these problems, when all along they know they've got things sewn up. Unless we can turn that around, somehow.
Shea,
Your right, they can totally fuck up and still win.....'cause they own the ballot boxes.
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