It is no secret--although, strangely, I have not read it in the mainstream media--that tonight nearly every Republican concerned with effective public policy (as opposed to landing a lobbying job) and most Republican commentators are ashamed of their Party, their candidate, and themselves. Weekly Standard writer Andrew Ferguson writes of a "a thinly disguised secret--Republicans are supporting a candidate that relatively few of them find personally or politically appealing." We are told that if we read between the lines of David Brooks's New York Times columns, he is telling us that he thinks Bush is incompetent: that he agrees with "what is, in fact, the private consensus of many conservatives who are publicly supporting Bush: that... he has a tenuous grasp of the instruments of government and how to wield them."
A political party that seeks victory for a candidate unqualified to be president on the two pillars of (i) its success at fooling a third of Americans into believing that Saddam Hussein was closely allied with Al Qaeda and had a hand in 911 and (ii) its ability to gay-bash its way to a narrow electoral-vote victory--that's not something that anyone can be proud of. And very few Republicans are.
Posted by DeLong at November 1, 2004 08:11 PM | TrackBackI've thought for a long time that the incessant Republican attempts to convince us that Democrats are just voting against Bush and not for Kerry were yet another instance of projection -- it's true for them, so they insist it must be true for us.
I was a Deaniac in the primaries; spent a week in New Hampshire. I am unabashedly and enthusiastically pro-Kerry. For personality I still like Dean better, but politically Kerry is a lot closer to my ideal positions. I think a Kerry administration will be great -- intelligent, effective, truly moral. The massive hordes of GOTV volunteers are working for a man we believe in, not just one we're stuck with.
I think they're proud of the gay bashing part. :wink:
Posted by: drm at November 1, 2004 10:54 PMPeople who aren't proud of their candidate don't take creepy mass pledges at rallies. You may know some Republicans who aren't thrilled with Bush, but he is frighteningly popular with a large subset of the populace.
As usual Brooks has a decent conclusion without any sense of an argument (or, as often, the opposite). Bush has made effective use of the tools of government, but none of it was in the interest of the people. His tactics and strategies in the security sectors, law and justice, and congress have beaten back most every challenge, helped by the Republican domination of Congress. This began with the stealing og the election in 2000.
But almost none of the things Bush has pursued has had any relation to what is good for the country. Brooks should be saying "Bush has a tenuous grasp of the national interest."
Brooks, like Bush, is still hung up on form rather than function.
Here's another concrete example of republican shame: the solidly Republican Detroit News couldn't bring itself to endorse W, and endorsed "None of the Above":
http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0410/24/a16-312995.htm
Although they don't buy Bush's claims about his own record, they do seem to have bought the Bush message about John Kerry: he "sees a big government solution to every problem", "We also worry that Kerry has a wait-and-see attitude toward combatting terrorism".
it's depressing to think that the anti-Kerry message may be enough to give W another term.
Posted by: Oren at November 2, 2004 06:24 AMThe Apocalypic right wingloons adore Bush. They hope he brings us WWIII.
Posted by: Elaine Supkis at November 2, 2004 06:46 AMI have noticed that almost every Republican candidate fails to place his/her party affiliation on their yard signs and other advertising.
Posted by: Arthur Arfa at November 2, 2004 06:56 AMYes, the rank and file Republican base adores Bush, and the oath thing is a symptom of a pathology toward something terrible for America that we will have to deal with by very radical means no matter who wins.
Yes, the intellectuals' and policy folks' hairs are standing up on the backs of their necks, but they got their tax cuts and are promised more, so the ruin of the Republic can be ignored for now.
Besides, they are busy looting the Treasury to feather their hiding places.
Posted by: John Thullen at November 2, 2004 07:48 AMThey should be ashamed, not just for Bush / Cheney, but for all the spiritual damage they've done the country these past decades by using racism, xenophobia, and homophobia to get themselves elected. Even if they were sure they were right on the economic issues (which is debatable). Some things are more important than money.
Posted by: larry birnbaum at November 2, 2004 08:31 AM..."Some things are more important than money."
Not to republicans.
I have noticed that almost every Republican candidate fails to place his/her party affiliation on their yard signs and other advertising.
Interesting. I thought it was something local here in Montgomery County, Maryland. A couple of other oddities:
* Kerry won the lawn sign and bumper sticker war here by about 5 - 1. But a good percentage of Bush signs were the big 3' by 5' ones instead of the lawn-sign sized ones.
* There are lawn signs for the incumbent Democratic congresscritter all over the place, almost all on people's lawns. The vast majority of the Republican challenger's are in public areas, like road medians, parks and so forth. This is mildly illegal, BTW.
* Most of the people with lawn signs for Kerry also have one for the Congresscritter, but not for the incumbent Democratic senator. I'd guess that she might be in for trouble the next time she's up for election.
Ah, well. Back to the tea leaves.
Posted by: lightning at November 2, 2004 02:00 PMI have noticed that almost every Republican candidate fails to place his/her party affiliation on their yard signs and other advertising.
Interesting. I thought it was something local here in Montgomery County, Maryland. A couple of other oddities:
* Kerry won the lawn sign and bumper sticker war here by about 5 - 1. But a good percentage of Bush signs were the big 3' by 5' ones instead of the lawn-sign sized ones.
* There are lawn signs for the incumbent Democratic congresscritter all over the place, almost all on people's lawns. The vast majority of the Republican challenger's are in public areas, like road medians, parks and so forth. This is mildly illegal, BTW.
* Most of the people with lawn signs for Kerry also have one for the Congresscritter, but not for the incumbent Democratic senator. I'd guess that she might be in for trouble the next time she's up for election.
Ah, well. Back to the tea leaves.
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