Wednesday,
April 20 2005
NUCLEAR OPTION MELTDOWN: It's a shame we've come to this
point in the battle over judges. Not necessarily a surprise, but
a shame nonetheless. The main reason for the showdown, of course,
is because Democrats have gone way over the line in using the
filibuster in an unprecedented and abusive way.
What's frustrating,
however, is that I can't help but think part of the reason we
are where we are is because the Republican leadership has mismanaged
the public relations part of the battle. This should not be a
tough sell to the American people, folks.
Most people
would agree that at the very least these judicial nominees deserve
a simple up and down vote. It's a basic issue of fairness. Most
people would probably also agree - or could easily be persuaded
to agree - with the view that the Democrats, who are doing something
never before done in the history of the country, are the extremists
here.
Yet neither
of these arguments has been brought to bear with the general public
in any meaningful way. I suspect the average American (who either
hasn't followed the debate very closely or hasn't followed it
at all) is reading the newspaper or watching television and buying
into the notion that Republicans are the ones being "drastic"
and "abusive."
So why aren't
we seeing a broad-based public relations effort making the Republicans'
case to the American people? Where are the ads, the panels, the
protests, and other headline-grabbing stunts that could be used
to draw attention to the issue?
Don't get
me wrong. I understand some of this type of stuff has been taking
place. I also understand that it's extremely tough to reach the
public through a mainstream media filter that is ideologically
inclined to block or distort the message.
Still, if
the issue is so important (which it unquestionably is) you would
have expected a full-bore media campaign of commensurate value
that would work to swing the debate the GOP's way. It certainly
doesn't feel like that's what we've gotten.
Instead,
it feels as if we've skipped over a couple of steps and are now
standing on the edge of the abyss, about to plunge forward with
a vote of enormous political consequence. And with all due respect
to those
who feel confident this scenario will play out favorably for the
Republicans, a reasonable case can be made that this vote
will end up a disaster for the GOP.
This is doubly
frustrating because the math also works in the Republicans' favor.
There are more red-state Democrats at risk over this issue than
blue-state Republicans. Yet instead of having Senators like Ben
Nelson, Ken Salazar, and the rest on the defensive, it's moderate
Republicans like John Warner, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe
who are getting pounded - from both sides.
Read this
article in today's New York Times and you'll see
that many of the Republican moderates still on the fence fully
agree that Democrats are way out of line. It's not hard to see
that they would be more than willing to pull the trigger on this
vote if the Republican party leadership had done a better job
laying the ground work and driving public opinion on the issue.
The bottom line is that not enough effort was made to give these
Senators the cover they need to make this vote.
At this point,
it's all water under the bridge. We'll know soon enough whether
Senator Frist can muster the votes. Still, I think the Republican
leadership has exposed the party to needless political risk by
not doing an effective job of framing this debate with the American
public.
ROSSI
WOULD WIN: So says this story from the Seattle
PI:
Without
ballots cast by felons, dead voters and non-citizens, Democratic
Gov. Christine Gregoire would have lost the 2004 election to
Republican Dino Rossi by about 100 votes, according to a statistical
report cited by the GOP in its legal challenge to Gregoire's
victory.
Later in
the story we learn that according to state law Rossi must do more
than prove that enough "improper" ballots were cast
to give him a victory, he must prove that Gregoire owes her victory
to "illegal" votes. Different standard. We'll see what
the judge decides.
By the way,
if you aren't already visiting our
political news page, you should start
today. - T. Bevan 11:45 am Link
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