Friday, February 25, 2005

Go ahead, make my day

Hugh Hewitt is running Vox Blogoli 2.2: Does the Senate GOP Go McClellan or Grant if Harry Reid "Goes Gingrich?" "The Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has said that if the Republicans made good on their threat and ruled filibusters out of order, he would see to it that Senate business came to a halt."

I am of the opinion that that the Republicans must be as relentless in pursuing the president’s agenda as U.S. Grant was in pursuing Lee’s army. As I noted in my November, 3 posting, President Bush needs to do the big things up front so that he can leverage mid-term elections against several vulnerable Democrats.

In the 2006 mid-term elections, Democrats will be defending senate seats in five red states (WV, Robert Byrd [Oh yes he is! He’s 88!]; FL, Bill Nelson; NB, Ben Nelson; NM Jeff Bingaham; and ND, Kent Conrad). No doubt Carl Rove has anonymously sent each of these senators news clipping of Tom Daschel’s demise in SD. Three other senators are running in states that, while not yet red, are moving in that direction (MI, Debbie Stabenow; MN, Brave Mark Dayton’s open seat; and WI, Herb Kohl). After the mid-terms, Bush knows he will have little leverage against any senator.

The Judicial nomination issue is the perfect hammer with which to crush the Democrat Party. It forces Pat Leahy, and Chuck Schumer into the open as the faces of the Democrat Party. They will be forced to defend a policy of not giving highly qualified judges, many of them minorities from “key states”, an up or down vote because they are Christians and/or pro-life. Perfect!

The idea that Harry Reid would choose to shut down the government is another win-win. Democrats would look like fools and government shutting down generally is a good thing.

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