Let me break my moratorium on talking about US Politics to point your attention to the interview that Hugh Hewitt has with John Podhoretz about his book "Can she be stopped?". What they are speaking about reminds me of the last two Canadian elections - think of the 2006 mid-term election as Canada in 2004 and the Presidential election as our last federal election, a two-step process to a change in power, as well as the Australian election that brought the Liberal Democrats and John Howard to power and a final foreshadowing to the impending election defeat of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom.
The common thread is that adminstrations run out of steam and no matter how far in the wilderness an opposition party is the ruling party will destroy itself. You don't have to defeat it, you offer up yourself as credible alternative for when they destroy themselves. What Hugh Hewitt and John Podhoretz are saying is that the Republicans need to stop their internal fighting so they do not lose power. I am beginning to think that this is now inevitable and if the Democrats nominate a credible candidate the White House is their's. Whether or not that means that Hillary Clinton will be President is another story.
Comments (7)
The big problem for the Dems, though, is finding that ‘credible’ candidate.
Posted by Jeff | May 12, 2006 11:23 AM
Posted on May 12, 2006 11:23
Beat me to it, Jeff. I don’t believe Hillary Clinton is that credible candidate. While conservatives are beginning to weary of the Republicans, especially their profligate spending, given the choice between continuing with the Reps or another Clinton in the White House, they’ll turn right back into “broken glass” voters to ensure she stays out.
The House is probably lost to the Republicans in November, though. There’s no such galvanizing force to get the conservatives out.
Posted by Ian in NS | May 12, 2006 7:18 PM
Posted on May 12, 2006 19:18
I don’t know.
If McCain gets the GOP nod he’ll win easily.
Posted by Brandon Langhjelm | May 12, 2006 7:18 PM
Posted on May 12, 2006 19:18
I don’t know.
If McCain gets the GOP nod he’ll win easily. He’d pull enough votes away from the Dems to trounce whoever he’d be up against.
Posted by Brandon Langhjelm | May 12, 2006 7:21 PM
Posted on May 12, 2006 19:21
Anything can happen in politics and people can tell pollsters what they want, but when voters go into the ballot booth, it is difficult to image that the majority of voters will trust the Democrats with National Security in this post 9/11 world.
Posted by E J Hosdil | May 13, 2006 7:33 AM
Posted on May 13, 2006 07:33
The US economy is doing great, they will grow their way out of the deficit. They have won the war in Iraq; they still battle the press because the war on Islamofascism will continue for decades. Immigration is a small problem compared to that, but it is a problem both parties will need to address.
I hope that the press gets the Dems elected into a majority in 2006. Then the Dems won’t be able to campaign in 2008 that everything that goes wrong int the world is the fault of the GOP. I also hope the Dems keep campaigning against Bush; they don’t seem to realize he’s not running again. Watch Mitt Romney. Maybe the first Mormon in the White House.
Posted by nomdenet | May 13, 2006 8:27 AM
Posted on May 13, 2006 08:27
I disagree with nomdenet — I think the Republicans will hang onto control of both chambers this fall.
This is nothing to celebrate — the Republicans really do need to lose something, to lose their sense of entitlement.
Which will pave the way for the second President Clinton.
I might even vote for her.
Posted by Ben (The Tiger in Exile) | May 13, 2006 9:52 PM
Posted on May 13, 2006 21:52