Topic: Democrats
Here the Republican Party kneels, its symbolic head on the block, the axe of the American electorate ready to be swung down hard by the masked Democratic executioner, as the House and Senate, the prizes of the neverending partisan war between the Red and Blue, stand ripe for the plucking. Those are a lot of analogies, but true all.
The GOP has been battered since 2004 by Katrina, the on-going Iraq conflict, media and Democratic bashing that simply never ends, scandals of GOP Congressmen, weak candidates for House and Senate races, increased Democratic fundraising, and a general malaise about the direction of the country. Now add a gay underage page scandal, and we know it's time.
The priest has come in, read our last rites, comforted us in our time of despair, as we await the carrying out of the sentence. Our time is limited as November draws ever closer. In our minds play out scenarios of an emboldened Left, empowered with committee chairmanships, where liberal programs will be pushed through complimented with investigations on everything from energy policy to Iraq. They'll try and find their Watergate, they might even rehash Valerie Plame (pointless as it may be), just for kicks.
It is a dark hour for Republicans. And I don't mean House and Senate Republicans, those elected officials who have failed to maintain the conservative majority. It is a dark hour for the rank-and-file, the grassroots supporters, who feel the GOP did little to nothing to curb spending, to halt illegal immigration, and to argue more forcefully the just nature of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and to rally American support for the effort. On top of that, it is dark because of the scandals that have ravaged our faith in the GOP as the party of law, order, or morals and justice. Cunningham, Ney, DeLay, Abramoff, and now Foley, the list goes on.
And yet, as we wait here, in the shadow of the Democratic executioner, we wonder, what seems to be the hold up? Of course, the execution is scheduled for November, but the bringer of our demise seems confused, and can't seem to locate his axe. Still, in the polls, though this may indeed fade, slim majorities seem still possible in the House and Senate. The executioner's axe may miss our head and give pardon.
In Virginia, George Allen might avoid usurpation over his Maccaca gaffe. In New Jersey, Tom Kean Jr. might topple ethics-lacking Bob Menendez. In Missouri, Jim Talent might hold on against perennial loser Claire McCaskill. In Tennessee, Bob Corker should be able to win against Harold Ford Jr despite his weakness as a candidate and Ford's energy. In Ohio, Mike DeWine is only slightly behind leftist Sharrod Brown, and Rick Santorum is too good a politician to go gently into that good night against lackluster Bob Casey. The House seems more in danger, but the latest data I have seen indicates a 2-3 seat majority for the GOP despite the messes of late. Most of these races will be decided by the debates.
And so we wait more, as if the New York Mets, concerned that our ever-injured pitchers will be replaced by better, younger faces. Dennis Hastert is up against the ropes, as John Boehner seeks the Speaker's chair. I don't know if John Maine can replace El Duque in the playoffs successfully, and I don't know if the Republicans can replace their scandalized Congressmen with better people, but we can always hope. And the Democrats, who can never seem to get their act together, come up with a real plan for Americans that the people rally behind, will continue to look for that elusive axe as the GOP's head still lays ready for decapitation...we pray for deliverance nevertheless with a glimmer of hope in our foe's idiocy.
