Panic Sets In For The GOP

by DemFromCT

Is there any other way to explain the Republican reaction to gas prices?

The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help.

Aides for several Republican senators reported a surge of calls and e-mail messages from constituents ridiculing the rebate as a paltry and transparent effort to pander to voters before the midterm elections in November.

"The conservatives think it is socialist bunk, and the liberals think it is conservative trickery," said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, pointing out that the criticism was coming from across the ideological spectrum.

Angry constituents have asked, "Do you think we are prostitutes? Do you think you can buy us?" said another Republican senator's aide, who was granted anonymity to openly discuss the feedback because the senator had supported the plan.

Talk about having no grown-ups in charge. Well, this is not unexpected. Instead of a grown-up, we have Bill Frist, vying for Panderer-in-Chief in 2008.

The reaction comes as the rising price of gasoline has put the public in a volatile mood and as polls show that cynicism about Congress is at its highest level since 1994.

Still, Eric Ueland, chief of staff to Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, whose office played a main role in pulling the proposal together, said the rebate was an important short-term step in a broader array of measures that began with last year's energy bill. Constituents "believe government ought to step up to the plate rather than loll around in the dugout," Mr. Ueland wrote in an e-mail message on Sunday.

Between the polls and the angry constituents, it's dawning on the governing party that there are angry voters out there, looking for someone to actually govern. Failing that, they'll look for someone to blame. And because the Republicans are completely incapable of the former, they're concentrating on the latter.

Conservative talk radio hosts have been particularly vocal. "What kind of insult is this?" Rush Limbaugh asked on his radio program on Friday. "Instead of buying us off and treating us like we're a bunch of whores, just solve the problem." In commentary on Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume called the idea "silly."

Exactly what they need the rally the base, eh? Since they gave up trying to appeal to other than the base long ago, this puts a few more nails in the ruling party's coffin. And because they've never tried to be the government for all Americans, it is with delight and satisfaction that we watch them shoot themselves in the foot, rear end, and head.

"The only thing  dumber than a hundred dollar rebate is a three hundred dollar rebate."  – unnamed R senator

After all, we're the majority of the country, we non-base Americans. We're the two thirds who think the country is going in the wrong direction. And we're the ones who will have our say in November, when we put someone else at the wheel besides Frist and the Keystone Kops. The base will just have to settle for the 'coulda been-shoulda been' discussions of 'what if Bush was who he claimed to be?' And both they and the historians will not be any kinder to the Bush era in future than we are now. But blaming Bush is still easier than blaming themselves.

Comments

[DemFromCT]

Speaking of polls, Rasmussen tweaked their party ID numbers. That drops Bush by a point or two; he's now at 38%.

Scott Rasmussen recognized the dropping association of voters and the GOP:

Based upon the past three months, the current targets are 36.6% Democrat, 33.5% Republican, and 29.9% Unaffiliated. These targets will be updated monthly. Previously, our weighting targets assumed an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.

The era of wanting to be known as a Republican is over. "I'm a conservative, not a Republican' is the new rallying cry. I have no beef with that. There's nothing wrong with being a conservative (as long as you're not an in-disgrace neo-con). There's a lot wrong with being a 2006 Republican, unless you enjoy jail time, association with the worst president ever and a culture of corruption whose depth has still to be plumbed.

[DemFromCT]

Nice table of the D generic congressional lead, which is pushing R behavior.

[DemFromCT]

According to the WSJ, if they stay high enough for long enough, they will change consumer habits. SUVs in the US are a major contributor to global warming, but you don't sell your SUV the day after prices go up.

OTOH, selling the SUV out of necessity will not play well with voters. The party in power is likely to pay for that.

The altrnatives including the (sensible) raising of CAFE standards. That'll be a bipartisan idea sooner rather than later, but too late to help Rs in November.

[DemFromCT]

kim, do your own googling. But ignorance is no excuse. start with this and this.

[Mimikatz]

Both parties need grownups. Someone needs to tell the people that we have reached peak oil, more and more people want oil, and the era of cheap gas is over; we cannot have all we want without a prohibitive cost. We will need to rely on conservation, efficiency and alternatives. The gov't can help with incentives and subsidies. But people need to hear the truth so they can plan accordingly. The Dems can blame it on the R's fighting fuel efficiency, although this is one of those issues where they caved rather than stick with a principle that would eventually be proved right. But the fact that they are less in hock to the oil companies and the auto industry is tanking should give them the courage to to the right thing. Pandering on reducing or waiving the gas tax is almost as bad as the $100 "rebate" in return for signing over the Alaskan Wilderness.

[DemFromCT]

kim, you are speaking in tongues and making little sense. And please don't hijack threads with multiple coments. You'll get yourself ejected from TNH after a very short stay.

[free patriot]

help the repuglicans steal our children"s money and the repuglicans will cut you in on the score

all you have to do is support the repuglican party, and the repuglican party is willing to steal $100 from our children for every sucker willing to support the repuglican party in this theft

so break open the kid's piggy bank and help yourself

and be sure to thank the repuglicans for allowing a little guy like you in on the looting of our children

[free patriot]

re kim;

DON'T FEED THE FUCKING TROLLS

LET THE COGNATIVE DISSONANCE FESTER IS SILENCE

ignore the troll and it will go away

[kim]

Who's this demon kim everyone keeps screaming at?
================================

[Janeen Pacheco]

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Hemswell Antique Centres
http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2003/08/13/national/nationalspecial2/