Northeast Republicans Distancing Themselves From Bush

[JABBS]

You probably won't see Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and President Bush together before Election Day.

The two-term incumbent says "the name of the game" is to convince sour voters that he can be independent of his own party. He has turned his standard line about Bush -- "When I think he's wrong, I let him know" -- into a virtual campaign slogan, repeated in interviews and TV ads.

To read more, click here.

[saltpoint]

1. Can't blame the NE Republicans on this one. If Dubya was coming to

campaign for me, I'd head for the hills, too.

It's not going to be pretty in those early NE returns for the president's party.

And I hope the tremor rolls west all evening on Nov. 7th.

[...of J.Temperance]

2. It's obviously smart politically speaking

W isn't as popular as some Republicans would like to think that he is.

Many Republican politicians, and not just North East ones, want to be re-elected, so they'll distance themselves from W. I think by the time 2008 arrives, the majority of Republicans aren't even going to mention the name George W. Bush....I've said for a while now, the name George W. Bush is going to be electoral poison at the polls....W is going to be like Herbert Hoover, I would say that it's going to be a long time before the Republicans from 2008 and on will feel safe at the polls mentioning W's name....in the same way that the name Herbert Hoover for decades was electoral poison at the polls.

Hopefully W will be the last Bush EVER to sit in the WH.

[babylonsister]

3. The only ones who will welcome Il Dunce at this point are the ones

in trouble. They have nothing to lose. Ha! Dimson is quickly becoming a pariah and those who associate with him are as well.

[...of J.Temperance]

7. Most politicians that Junior has campaigned for have lost

So is it any wonder some are asking him to not campaign for them. Junior's anti-Midas Touch continues.

[ninkasi]

4. It might be easier for them

to distance themselves if they didn't rubber-stamp everything he wants. They might want to change the wording, to say "When I think he's wrong, I let him know, but I vote for whatever he wants anyway".

[JABBS]

6. true

it would be interesting to look at voting records, and see if anyone distanced themselves from Bush in terms of voting habits, as we move closer to election day.

[ninkasi]

13. Yes!

and I know one or two who will distance themselves, and swear that that was their choice all along. They might change their minds, but they will never admit that they had a different opinion before. They have very convenient memories. In other words, typical Repiggies.

[...of J.Temperance]

8. But you KNOW that Junior is NEVER wrong

I expect that if a Republican politician was brave enough to publically say that Junior was WRONG on a lot of things, well, I bet that Republican politician would either be subjected to a vicious smear campaign OR end up wearing some cement boots.

[JABBS]

9. one race to watch is chafee-laffey

it's a moderate who often votes against bush against a conservative in the sept. 12 GOP primary in RI.

if chafee wins, he may defeat democrat sheldon whitehouse. if laffey wins, he'll get crushed.

as the wind blows in that primary may say a lot about how things are going to go come November. A chafee win is good news for other northeast republicans trying to distance themselves from bush. a laffey win gives the dems another Senate seat, but will it mean conservatives will a) not vote for wishy-washy republicans, or b) come out in droves for wishy-washy republicans?

[...of J.Temperance]

11. I have a feeling that Sheldon Whitehouse could very well win

Win against Lincoln Chafee I mean....WTF Chafee is doing in the Bush GOP I don't know, it's pathetic IF it's just because his Daddy was the Senator prior to him....Chafee should have jumped ship a while ago, he has more in common with the Democratic Party than the Bush Republican Party, ditto Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

I'm hoping that Sheldon Whitehouse wins, he'll make a great Senator for our party.

[JABBS]

12. providence journal poll today

has chafee up by 1 over whitehouse, and whitehouse up by a ton over laffey

[...of J.Temperance]

15. That's good news

Either way....I'm confident that Sheldon Whitehouse will be the next Senator from Rhode Island :)

[ninkasi]

10. Or he would disappear

leaving a noxious sulfur trail behind him, because Bush's god Lucifer claimed his soul for his anti-Bush speech. It's like dealing with a cult, there is no reasoning with them. America as we know it might crumble and collapse, but they will still willingly follow their god, Bush.

[...of J.Temperance]

14. It's disturbing

Because like you say it's exactly like a cult. I mean they adored Ronald Reagan, but they were never as fanatical about Reagan as they are about Junior....it's like Junior is on par with Jesus Christ himself and it's incredibly scary.

The W Personality Cult, yes they would jump off a cliff or committ mass suicide if Junior told them to.

[ninkasi]

16. I know, and it's profoundly disturbing

Especially when his cult members are otherwise successful members of society. I discussed this with my sister-in-law last April. She married my older brother, was widowed, then married a millionaire, and is a widow again. We had not seen each other in a number of years, but got together a few times at her daughter, my niece's home.

She confessed to being a Republican. I know that her brother is a Democrat, as is his wife, and their children. When I tried to discuss politics with her, she shook her head, and said this..."I can't let myself believe that Bush is like that. I can't let myself believe that the reasons he gave to invade Iraq were wrong. If I LET myself believe that, then everything else I believe is wrong".

So, it seems that deep down inside, even Republicans know he's wrong, but will not permit letting themselves admit this. I have known her for 50 years, since I was 13, and she was 16 or 17. I won't sever ties between us, because her daughter, and my great-nephews are all I have left of my brother. Her 3 sons, my nephews, died in the 70s. It's a sad tale, and one I need not go into here. My brother, and my nephews, have been dead for almost 30 years.

My point, though, is that sometimes, people cling to a party because they refuse to believe the reality they face every day. The picture we've seen of the RW woman putting her fingers in her ears, and shutting her eyes? That's real. If they have really drunk the kool-aide, there is no reaching them.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Their new mantra: I'll vote for bush's policies ...... but I won't like it

*wink* *wink*

[benny05]

17. Won't help Chafee

He's likely to be toast anyway.

[zbdent]

18. Need to keep pushing that they're the ones who kept demanding

total submission to the Bush doctrine, or you're a terrorist ...

You know, where agreeing with 95 percent of Bush's drivel is considered being unpatriotic ...