The Republican antics over Terri Schiavo will make great campaign commercials next year. For the Republicans, that is. (A neutral blog about the case can be found here)
It won't surprise regular readers that I think the DeLay/Frist/Bush actions in this matter cynical and damaging.
At this point they're in so deep with the mess they've made that they're really obliged to keep going, even if polls show that most Americans oppose what they're doing.
But in a fortnight--at most--Terri Schiavo will be dead or forgotten. Until October 2006.
Then woe betide any Democrat who actually voted against the Schiavo bill. Sure, the abstract ideas of separation of powers and federalism are important to defend.
But the first the marginally interested voter will hear of Democratic opposition to the Schiavo bill in 2006 is from a Republican ad bombarding the district with the message that the Democratic candidate voted against keeping a woman alive.
And while a close examination of the ethical issues leads one to believe that Congress should not interfere in this decision, that is not how a superficial reading of the case in 18 months will make it sound.
And its true that Bush's concern for thousands of tsunami victims and possibly innocent victims of U.S. military torture stand in stark contrast with his rush to sign this legislation about one woman. The "culture of life" is selective and limited. But the tsunami and the torture happened to large numbers of distant people. The electoral impact of life and death decisions is typically realized in individual stories, not larger tragedies.
The Republicans -- if they are united -- can do what they wish with this issue. It seems strange that they are so united--surely there must be some for whom over-riding the careful deliberations of a state court is a step too far--but if there are doubters they haven't raised their voices. In the wider scheme of things Democrats would do well to realize that they can't win this fight, and just let it blow over without actively opposing it. The Democrats have forced a wedge between Bush and congressional Republicans on Social Security.
The sooner Terri Schiavo's life returns to its proper, relatively private, domain, the better for the Democrats and the country.
Posted by robe0419 at March 22, 2005 5:47 PM