Why Bother Debating With The Right?

There is both good news and bad news this week my friends. First, we'll look at the good news and then we'll get around the looking at the bad stuff. Fair enough?

The Good News

The good news is that I've decided to rethink the style of my posts. If anyone noticed, my posts tend to be really long, which is all fine and good I suppose but it seems to me that most bloggers don't like reading long in-depth articles. The Internet is all about getting information and ideas quickly after all, isn't it? With that in mind, I've decided to write shorter posts and I've decided to write on both Saturdays and Wednesdays. Hopefully shorter, more frequent posts will allow me to write about more topics and attract more readers. Now for the bad news.

The Bad News

As many of you already know, my friend Gun-Toting Liberal has been out of town for a while now. Before leaving, he asked several fellow bloggers, including myself, to fill in for him on his site while he is gone. Naturally I was happy to oblige him. Along with nine other bloggers, I began writing guest posts. At first this arrangement worked out fine as it seemed GTL's site was receiving a lot of hits from those familiar with his work. As time has passed, however, things have gone downhill. It seems that most of the visitors to GTL's site are now conservatives and they are using it as a conservative forum. In addition, they seem bent on forcing their views and methods on the site, evidently feeling that they now own it. I have grown tired of constantly debating with these folks and having my words fall on deaf ears so I've decided not to post there anymore. Hopefully GTL will clean house when he gets home. Godspeed GTL!

Did You Know Bush's Supporters Are Mad At Him?

I've been keeping a close eye on public opinion in recent weeks as Bush has attempted to wade through tumultuous political waters far too deep for a dishonest man. What I've noticed is that the deeper he wades, the more support he loses. I haven't found a good reason for this as of yet but I believe it has something to do with his system of covering up the truth and then showing his true colors later on. Let's look at the individual groups that are upset with him for a bit, shall we?

Americans In General

In the latest AP-Ipsos poll, it appears that the American people only marginally support Bush. Only a meager 28 percent of those polled felt that Bush is leading America in the right direction. That is opposed 66 percent who felt he is leading us in the wrong direction.

White Evangelicals, Republican Women and Southerners

Since November 2004, Bush's support in among white evangelicals has dwindled by 30 percent. At election time last year, this group overwhelmingly supported Bush but this is no longer the case.

Similar to white evangelicals, Republican women have lost their faith in Bush by a margin of 28 percent. Also like white evangelicals, Republican women overwhelmingly supported Bush during last year's election.

Only slightly less so than with white evangelicals and Republican women, Bush has managed to lose a lot of support from Southerners. In the last election, the South overwhelmingly supported Bush but that support has dwindled by 26 percent.

Hispanics

Over the last 10 years, Republicans have fought hard to convince Hispanics that the GOP is the party that doesn't screw the little guy. They've managed to convince a lot of them. However, the faith of many Hispanics in the GOP has been shaken to the core by Bush's refusal to nominate an Hispanic to the US Supreme Court. Considering that he won 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in the last election, one would think he wouldn't want to upset this important group of voters. After all, there are 37 million Hispanics in the United States. By disproving years of campaign promises, Bush might be costing his party a few elections, don't you think?

Conclusion

While political polls are a non-scientific sport, they are accurate enough to tell us that things aren't looking good for Republicans right now. Given that the American people have clearly decided by the smallest of margins that they want Republicans to rule them, despite their tyrannical overtures, it would be prudent for Bush to carry out his position as the leader of the GOP with caution. Instead, he seems bent on doing whatever he wants to. This cowboy-cavalier attitude comes with a high cost: millions of swing-voters who swing left just as easily as right. Republican strategist Tony Fabrizio perhaps best summarized the situation Bush faces when he said recently, "There is a growing, deep-seated discontentment and pessimism about the direction of the country." Yes, that's true. The best part of it is that it's mostly conservatives that are getting upset now. Does that mean the Republican Party is slowly losing its grip?