I haven't been able to put my finger on my depression about politics lately. It had to be more than the still sorry state of Dems in my part of the country. After all, I knew what I was getting into when I moved here. I didn't choose my country. I can't say it better than Atrios:
Republicans in general and the presidential candidate especially will have to run against George Bush in '08 if they want to have any chance of actually winning control.
It's also obvious that fealty to dear leader is still an extraordinarily important thing to the 30 percenters.
It's also probable that our blessed media, who spent '00 demanding that Al Gore run away from Bill Clinton due to his hideous 65% approval ratings, will be unlikely to do that to the Republican candidate in '08.
It's early Saturday morning. I didn't feel like websurfing last night. I did pay pretty close attention to the political chat shows, Hardball and The Situation Room. After checking my e-mail first thing this morning (where are you Neal?) it took me all of three clicks (NLS to Ox Road South to Raising Kaine) to find out Ann Coulter called John Edwards a faggot at yesterday's CPAC conference. After a little more poking around, I learned that Americablog reported this before 5pm yesterday. There could be a silver lining in the MSMs silence on the scandal.
This will not go away. The Dems would be foolish to let the GOP off the hook. It will be interesting, and, I predict, ultimately satisfying, to watch the GOP twist as it decides how to respond. The three GOP frontrunners are in a box on this particular slur. Giuliani will find it impossible to do other than denounce Coulter. He can flip on a lot of things, but not on gay issues. Romney, too, was a sincere-seeming gay rights supporter not long ago. McCain didn't even change his schedule to make an appearance at the CPAC event; so, it seems unlikely he'd want to hug Coulter tightly and start gay bashing.
In fact, McCain's absence yesterday gives him a great opportunity to seize the high ground. McCain could appeal to moderates by claiming the mantle of the GOP's change candidate which also has the benefit of separating himself from Bush, whom he strangely otherwise tied himself to on the war. Of course, I don't know if McCain will do this. Moreover, I hope he doesn't, because the silence from the MSM and the GOP will cement Coulter and her hate to the conservatives and Bush, and, if, as I suspect, change will be THE issue of the next elections (hopefully, including this year's VA races), Dems will romp!
