Conservative Robert Cox sure sounds like he got his marching orders here.
Lieberman went on to describe a political environment within his own party in that “Every disagreement is considered disloyal. And every opponent it is not just an opponent but is seen as evil.” He vowed to continue fighting for stronger national security and work with Democrats and Republicans to “build a better life for the people of Connecticut … regardless of what the political consequences may be.” In staring into the abyss of an election loss, Lieberman may be on to something.
Dave Johnson sees the strategy in play.
I’ve been seeing signs, and I thnk we’re going to see a strong, nationwide Republican effort to blame Democrats for the partisanship in politics. The Republicans have been saying “Dems are rabid Bush-hater partisans” as a ploy to win votes and I think this is going to become a drumbeat.
People really are fed up with the rabid partisanship and nothing getting done for the public, and the Republicans understand this — that’s why they’re being such rabid partisans.
They know that the public doesn’t pay attention and blames everyone equally for it so they’re building the pressure.
Republicans love partisanship when they’re impeaching a president and smearing Democratic candidates, but when they’re getting their asses kicked suddenly they discover moderation. The fakery continues.
I thought “Dems are Bush-hater partisans” already was a drumbeat.
Besides, what’s the use of a political party that isn’t partisan?
The question is whether Rove goes to the well once too often on this meme.
What should be pounded into the press corps skulls is that Republicans control all three branches of government. It is the abuse of this power which has led to such partisanship.
Despite what sore Loserman says, there is certainly more variability in the Democratic Party than the Republican. Look at just about any legislation in Congress for which party votes in lockstep either for or against the president.
As a country, we will be able to find the middle once again when both sides balance each other out.
Oliver,
I wasn’t saying that Republicans are not partisan only that people around the country don’t seem terribly interested in the partisan bickering that enthralls political junkies like you and me. What I saw in my travels is that most post seem to understand that we really are at risk from terrorists and that the men and women of the U.S. military and their allies deserve a great deal of respect for putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. What I have seen in traveling around the country over the last few months suggests that aggressively partisan campaigns are going to create a backlash against their candidate. I know the experts say that negative campaiging works but we may see a test of that adage in ‘06.
BTW, no one gave me “marching orders”. Believe it or not I think for myself and this is actually what I think.
See you in DC in a few weeks
And the whole post is framed, both at the beginning and then at the end, with Joe Lieberman, DINO poster boy. Why not ask if Lieberman’s ranting has any real merit, rather than parroting the new GOP (and DINO Joe) line that everything is the fault of Dem partisanship?
Come on, who are we kidding here? Nowhere is there any suggestion that the GOP has heavily (HEAVILY) traded on partisanship to divide the populace and inflame their base. What was the point of the whole “support the troops” Sea World story juxtaposed against the “look at the crazy anti-war people harassing innocent bystanders” bit if not a cheap shot at the left as being, at best, uncivil, weak, and unpatriotic?
It’s all a superficial and transparent attempt to slam the Left, yet again, though now by adding the “partisan” label to the mix (projection, much) via Holy Joe and his ongoing campaign to keep the GOP in power for the forseeable future.
Both Republicans and Democrats are equally partisan. With the possible exceptions of Lieberman and McCain, there isn’t a politician in Washington who doesn’t think party first, America second.