The Republicans are running scared. They are terrified that the 2006 midterm elections will turn into a referendum on the Bush administration and they know that will put them at a severe disadvantage. Their party strategists are putting their heads together in an effort to move the debate from an up or down vote of confidence in Bush, to a series of one-on-one confrontations between candidates. Fred Barnes explains the Republican strategy.
Just last week, House Majority Leader John Boehner and Whip Roy Blunt met with leaders of conservative groups to talk about these issues.
House Republicans, for their part, intend to seek votes on measures such as the Bush-backed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a bill allowing more public expression of religion, another requiring parental consent for women under 18 to get an abortion, legislation to bar all federal courts except the Supreme Court from ruling on the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, a bill to outlaw human cloning, and another that would require doctors to consider fetal pain before performing an abortion.
I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything in there about ending the war in Iraq, bringing down the federal defecit, creating good jobs, extending health care coverage, providing better education, protecting the environment, or cleaning up the corruption in Washington. All I see is an agenda pulled straight out of James Dobson’s playbook.
The Republicans have concluded that they will not help themselves by distancing themselves from Bush. So, they have decided to go straight for the fundamentalist vote by painting the Democrats as opposed to religion, opposed to protecting the flag, inclined to surrender to the terrorists, and as babykillers. But, even born wingnuts like Fred Barnes are not very confident in the strategy:
Mehlman’s confidence notwithstanding, will Republican efforts to keep the election debate from focusing on Bush really work? The media undoubtedly won’t play along. Some Republicans are bound to trash Bush, figuring that it will give them the best chance of winning. Worse, if Bush falters badly, a referendum on him may be unavoidable. Still, is there a better strategy for Republicans in what looks like an unfriendly year for them? If there is, I haven’t heard of it.
A better strategy? Fred Barnes wants a better strategy than ignoring all the kitchen table issues Americans care about in favor of more of the same? How about you impeach and convict the President and his quail-hunting sidekick. That’s a strategy.