Jackson Free Press

The New York Times is reporting that, even before the November elections, Republicans are starting to point fingers at other Republicans to explain why they think they are going to lose the House this year, and maybe the Senate, although that is less likely:

Tax-cutters are calling evangelicals bullies. Christian conservatives say Republicans in Congress have let them down. Hawks say President Bush is bungling the war in Iraq. And many conservatives blame Representative Mark Foley's sexual messages to teenage pages. With polls showing Republican control of Congress in jeopardy, conservative leaders are pointing fingers at one another in an increasingly testy circle of blame for potential Republican losses this fall.

"It is one of those rare defeats that will have many fathers," said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, expressing the gloomy view of many conservatives about the outcome on Election Day. "And they will all be somebody else."

Whether the election will bear out their pessimism remains to be seen, and the factors that contribute to an electoral defeat are often complex and even contradictory. But the post-mortem recriminations can influence politics and policy for years after the fact. After 1992, Republicans shunned tax increases. After 1994, Democrats avoided gun control and health care reform. And 2004 led some Democrats to start quoting Scripture and rethinking abortion rights, while others opened an intraparty debate about the national security that is not yet resolved.

In the case of the Republican Party this year, the skirmish among conservatives over what is going wrong has begun unusually early and turned unusually personal.

But almost regardless of the outcome on Nov. 7, many conservatives express frustration that the party has lost its ideological focus. And after six years of nearly continuous control over the White House and Congress, conservatives are having a hard time finding anyone but one another to blame.

"It is pre-criminations," said Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, the conservative magazine. "If a party looks like it is going to take a real pounding, this sort of debate is healthy. What is unusual is that it is happening beforehand."

Previous Comments

ID

107954

Comment

NPR reported this a.m. that after Bush took the stage in Virginia to campaign for George Allen, Allen came back up and told the audience that he would have handled Iraq differently, that he's his own man, blah, blah. Wow.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-10-20T12:06:40-06:00

ID

107955

Comment

George Allen? Isn't he the "macaca" guy? I don't think there's a lot he can do to make himself look better after that.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-10-21T22:40:14-06:00

ID

107956

Comment

Yep, that's what the man said, you heard what he said! Some view Allen as a rising star in the GOP, but those comments may tarnish him. I heard a poll on the radio that said that 55 percent of Americans want the Democrats to take control to 32 percent that want Republicans. About a third of white evangelicals may consider voting for the Dems. 75 percent, according to exit polls, voted Republican in 2004.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2006-10-21T22:49:38-06:00

ID

107957

Comment

I've said that the evangelicals would be better off out of politics all along. Six years and repub's have done jack for them. People love to proclaim that this is now some "Religious Right Reich" we now live in, but it's not actually the case. They're going to have their own problems soon enough, without being tarnished by this disaster.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-10-21T23:02:32-06:00

ID

107958

Comment

I've said that the evangelicals would be better off out of politics all along. Six years and repub's have done jack for them. People love to proclaim that this is now some "Religious Right Reich" we now live in, but it's not actually the case. They're going to have their own problems soon enough, without being tarnished by this disaster. As a person with an evangelical background, I think it would have been best for them to not take sides publicly and pray about who to vote for as well as for the nation. I feel that the behavior of some of them has made it harder on everyone else.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-10-21T23:45:58-06:00

ID

107959

Comment

Here was an interesting take on elections by Peggy Noonan recently. I have to agree with her about Clinton. He was the master at running for office. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110009121

Author

Kingfish

Date

2006-10-22T10:36:56-06:00

ID

107960

Comment

Not quite so fast. Barrons has a story this weekend that says otherwise. Click here to view it.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2006-10-22T17:16:00-06:00