Politics and Policy What are the chances for a significant power struggle within the Republican party? Bush's low poll numbers (34% favorable rating as of last week) will cause quite a bit of parrying between the different factions of the party. Democrats are rejoicing that even the conservative base is deserting Bush over ideological issues, thereby splitting the support of the party. But Democrats need to remember that Bush is not running for office again. Instead, they will be running against a Republican candidate, probably a Republican Senator or Governor, who can distance himself from Bush. A lot of Bush’s support has deserted him not because they are convinced that the Democrats are correct on policy issues, but because they perceive Bush as being an incompetent manager of their trust. In the next election those “deserters” won’t automatically vote Democratic. Instead, most will vote for another Republican candidate. Their campaign would say: “Look, Bush screwed up, but he’s not running for office this year. Doesn’t the other candidate look foolish for pretending that he is running against Bush? Does he not even know who the opposing candidate is in this race? The Democrats had his chance to unseat Bush in 2004, and screwed that up. If they can’t even manage a challenge to a proven dufus like Bush, how can they fix this mess? I can fix up the mess better than any Democrat can. Remember that there was a reason you voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 – you don’t trust the Democrats or their agenda. Bush had the right ideas, he just was inept in carrying them out. It’s not your fault, we were all disappointed in Bush. But vote for me and I’ll do it right.” It is a truism that “Generals are always trying to re-fight the last war”. Similarly, the Democrats seem to be preparing to re-fight the last election. They are going to have to do better than that. Posted by RHP6033        Copyright 2006-2007 - Brookridge Associates Inc. All rights reserved.