So the final "two minutes" of this great national football game will be explicitly about Terror? Perhaps in DC.
Most Congressional business is going to focus not on Iraq and Iran, but on domestic "security" and amending FISA to permit warrantless surveillance in America and legalize already enacted war crimes by the Bush Adminstration. With some reactionary judicial high-jinks for seasoning.
But out in the actual districts, Republicans are going to make an enormous issue out of now-failed immigration "reform", and we will likely "lose" the election over it, just like we lost the 2004 election over gay marriage. Looking at the Republican Congressional ads, it's clear that immigration will be a huge hammer for them.
Their giving up on immigration reform this term also proves that the whole thing was ginned up by Rove from the start as a social issue utterly for use in the election: they had no real intent to pass any immigration reform legislation, and the Dems (who supported McCain-Kennedy) will be assailed as pro-illegal alien and in favor of "amnesty".
Dems branding the Republican House bill as "criminalization" suits uneducated white people just fine. They would rather vote against hated mexicans than place a constitutionally required check on our law-breaking president.
I know there's an argument that it "back-fires" on them long term, yadda, yadda. In the "long term" that's envisioned, the republic is dead.
Posted by euzoius at September 5, 2006 08:24 AMI think the Dems can win this because, thanks to the failure of the media to report on Democrat activities, nobody knows what they were advocating. So all the Dems need to do is pound the gop for placing Rumdrunk With Power over their precious Minutemen and stopping those Mexican hordes crossing the border to pick our fruit, which, btw, I hear isn't happening so much.
Something about unskilled day labor getting $15 an hour vs. $9 an hour for fruit pickers, even though the housing boom is busting, so we have all these misallocated resources thanks to the wonderous "Invisible Hand" of the "Free Market" screwing up yet again.
Gee, ain't unadulterated capitalism efficiently grand?
And I know, Dems pounding goppers, what a concept. But it does happen on the ground, in the hustings as it were far more than in DC. Which is the problem. DC needs to get their act together and start pounding these assholes for all mthey're worth.
Posted by Duckman GR at September 5, 2006 09:10 AMElection Forecast: Keep your eye on Santorum. He is way behind now. In one month's time, check him again. If he has cut the lead in half, he'll be within 3% the week before the election and win by 1.5% with several questions about vote irregularities. If he stays 10+ % behind into the middle of October, the GOPers will have a tough time country wide.
Posted by T2 at September 5, 2006 09:37 AMUpon further reflection, domestic security, "fascism" and lib'rul judges will be the national "high profile" reactionary agenda; mexican hordes and "amnesty for criminal aliens" will be the xenophobic, below-the-radar-screen "localized" email tree issue for the authoritarian base and weak minded independents.
Both levels will be Rove-coordinated, of course.
Good point by T2, as usual. Santorum is the Reactionary Authoritarian bellweather. And in our new football game politics, notice how the "races" ALWAYS seem to tighten by election day. There just never seems to be a stable consensus of 60% for anyone anymore.
Posted by euzoius at September 5, 2006 11:14 AM