Michelle Cottle on the Terri Schaivo case:
Regardless of what the polls show, Terri Schiavo is a no-win issue for Democrats, and their best course of action is to lie low and wait for the media storm to pass .... Democrats, unlike Republicans, have much to lose and little to gain by jumping into this fray, they would be politically wise to simply leave Terri Schiavo, and this entire drama, alone.
It is likely that the Republicans will try to use this issue, possibly by invoking "Terri's Law", in future elections as a means to show the Dems as uncaring and out of touch on "values".
However, I'd like to see the Dems taking this issue head on. The Republicans' use of this issue is inconsistent with what they claim, and many Americans believe, the Republican party to be all about. When I was a kid, my mom told me that the Republicans were the party of small government that stayed out of folks' personal business. Most Americans, when asked to compare and contrast the two parties, will make a similar point.
But that's no longer true, if it ever was. The Republican party is now the political home of the busy bodies - those people who want nothing more than to intrude on folks' personal business. If I was a Democrat running against a Republican who voted for "Terri's Law", I'd talk about it everyday between now and election day 2006 or 2008. It's no longer just the gays or the abortion-having women they are intruding upon, but everyone who might someday be in a position to have the "plug pulled", which includes us all.
Posted by: Jim at March 29, 2005 07:52 AMThe more I think about it, the more I think the Schiavo case represents a potential ideological rift in the Republican party. The religious component of the party always accepted the libertarianistic and federalistic agendas of the party because they never so clearly conflicted with the "culture of life" or other issues dear to them. But now we see that almost nobody, even some of the ardent pro-lifers, are keen on having Congress legislate personal and family matters for them. This, in my mind, represents a golden opportunity for the Dems to use the same divide and conquer techniques that the Republicans have used for years.
Posted by: Jim at March 29, 2005 09:10 PMBill Scher at Liberal Oasis, like Jim, argues that the Dems shouldn't have stayed quiet about Schiavo:
http://www.liberaloasis.com/archives/032705.htm#033105
I think the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot on this. When the Social Security bamboozle fails, and Tom DeLaygets what's coming to him, it could be a trifecta for the Dems in the off-year elections in '06.
Ever the optimist,
Tim
Posted by: Tim G. at April 1, 2005 02:10 PM