Boy am I glad this isn't an election year (exvept in VA and NJ). With the media slugging Karl Rove, and some conservatives trashing Harriet Miers, it would seem that the Administration and the Republican majority in Congress is in shambles, though it seems that the media turns away from Iraq just as the best news in almost a year comes:

A compromise has turned up, and Sunni support is expected to be widespread.

And no Republican Sentors have come out against Miers (yet). Why?

"Nobody wants to take a sharp stick and poke it in the eye of the president no matter what his approval rating is," said Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster with the firm Public Opinion Strategies. "He is too strong with Republican primary voters and three years from now he will remember anyone who votes against his nominee."

It may seem like the rats are abandoning the sinking ship, but I still think the GOP has a better shot in 2008 than the Dems (though 2006 will be very interesting). Let's hope this is all settled out by Janurary.

UPDATE (5:43): Just read Ryan Sager's column at Tech Central Station. He concludes that there is a storm brewing the GOP:

"The conservative movement is at a crossroads in America," Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), leader of the spending rebellion in the House, told a group of young conservatives on Capitol Hill late last month. "As the Republican Party did 40 years ago, today is another time for choosing whether we are committed to the ideals of limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values or whether we will continue to sacrifice those principles on the altar of preserving our governing majority."

I am inclined to agree, and blocking spending when you are in the minority in Congress is difficult, but it can be accomplished. And it is probably easier to rile against spending by your opponents than by your collegues.

Posted by Ryan S. on Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at 5:43 PM | Permalink |