Oh my my my. So much to post about, so little time. Buffalo Sabres advance. In 5, after winning the first two in Ottawa, as I predicted. (Not on the site.) No predictions on the next series. Yet.
Bush ratings still circling the drain. The only entities lower are Congress and Democrats. I think it's safe to say there is a massive amount of discontent with politicians in general right now. As there should be. We're at war. A war that's turned out painful. And costly. Like there's ever a war that isn't.
Illegal immigration. Wondering why no one is proposing a solution that will work? Simple. No one wants to piss off the Hispanic vote, which someday soon will be the decisive voting bloc in America. That and no one wants to piss off the maybe millions who benefit from cheap, undocumented labor. This is going to pose no end of aggravation to conservatives, but not much will happen here because too many people benefit from the status quo.
NSA Surveillance. First poll shows 66% approve, second poll 51% disapprove. In that USA Today poll http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2006-05-14-nsa-poll.htm , to me the most interesting item was not the 51% disapprove headline, but in the body of the poll, one question asks, 1. Do you think in the war on Terror the actions the administration has taken so far are: 1 Too much 41%, Just right 34%, Not enough 19%. So 53% think the administration has either done enough or not enough. A distinct minority believes they have gone too far.
I think it's a huge mistake for "progressives", as they like to refer to themselves, to conclude that Bush's travails will translate into liberal Democratic electoral victories (with one exception, Ill get to that later). On issues like immigration, spending, maybe even the war, Bush is losing support among the base for not being conservative enough, not for being too conservative. Perversely, when Bush moves to the center, he loses support, because Democrats hate him so utterly that they will never support him for anything. One should not mistake Bush's sagging numbers as a shift to the left.
The exception? It goes like this. Conservative outrage gets so out of hand that an illegal immigration third party candidate emerges, thereby electing Hillary.
Bush ratings still circling the drain. The only entities lower are Congress and Democrats. I think it's safe to say there is a massive amount of discontent with politicians in general right now. As there should be. We're at war. A war that's turned out painful. And costly. Like there's ever a war that isn't.
Illegal immigration. Wondering why no one is proposing a solution that will work? Simple. No one wants to piss off the Hispanic vote, which someday soon will be the decisive voting bloc in America. That and no one wants to piss off the maybe millions who benefit from cheap, undocumented labor. This is going to pose no end of aggravation to conservatives, but not much will happen here because too many people benefit from the status quo.
NSA Surveillance. First poll shows 66% approve, second poll 51% disapprove. In that USA Today poll http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2006-05-14-nsa-poll.htm , to me the most interesting item was not the 51% disapprove headline, but in the body of the poll, one question asks, 1. Do you think in the war on Terror the actions the administration has taken so far are: 1 Too much 41%, Just right 34%, Not enough 19%. So 53% think the administration has either done enough or not enough. A distinct minority believes they have gone too far.
I think it's a huge mistake for "progressives", as they like to refer to themselves, to conclude that Bush's travails will translate into liberal Democratic electoral victories (with one exception, Ill get to that later). On issues like immigration, spending, maybe even the war, Bush is losing support among the base for not being conservative enough, not for being too conservative. Perversely, when Bush moves to the center, he loses support, because Democrats hate him so utterly that they will never support him for anything. One should not mistake Bush's sagging numbers as a shift to the left.
The exception? It goes like this. Conservative outrage gets so out of hand that an illegal immigration third party candidate emerges, thereby electing Hillary.
posted by alwaysright at
5:38 PM
1 Comments
