|
My husband and I were just now talking about it (as of this writing, anyway). I strongly suspect it's because they've begun to take a HUGE amount of heat from other republi-CONS, AND Republicans in their districts/states. If it were Dems complaining, their staffers would chuckle, mumble "another 'Sore Loserman,' yuk-yuk-yuk. But they can't do that when the complainer is one of their own. THAT they take more seriously, because it's family, one of the in-crowd, one of those still ON the reservation. When THOSE people start complaining, they start taking it far more seriously than if the complaints were coming from us. They dismiss us as just partisan whiners.
WHICH IS NOT TO SAY WE SHOULD NOT WEIGH IN WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!
Repeat:
WHICH IS NOT TO SAY WE SHOULD NOT WEIGH IN WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!
Another DUer once pointed out, very astutely, that some of these reps got in by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins. They are, believe me, PAINFULLY aware that they need EVERY vote to stay employed, even among the outsider contingent (like us Dems). A few votes from our side could make the difference between a narrow race won, or a narrow race lost, or a race that doesn't come close enough for them to steal. Those who are a LITTLE bit more circumspect, not to mention those who are up for reelection this November, have at least a nominal awareness of this FACT. And a FACT is what this is. They DO need us. Some of them need more than a few of us, a LOT. And they alienate us at their peril.
It's the OTHERS, though, in bloody-red states, or states in which they appear to be a safer bet for reelection - that will get interesting. If folks like frist and others see their fortunes fading, they're gonna realize they HAVE TO reach out to us - because some of us on the margins might actually be convinced to hold their noses and vote for these types. Unfortunately for these same types, the benefit-of-the-doubt effect that probably has been KEY to their political survival up til now is FADING. It is NOT strong enough to sustain them when the conventional wisdom shifts - that these people are no more capable of ensuring our safety than the Dems or liberals are.
I suspect that there are more than a few in those same bloody-red states who are TRULY upset about this, and they're letting the frists of the world know about it. THAT'S why you see people like bill frist bucking bush on this. frist still thinks he's got a viable White House run ahead of him, and knows that nationally he's going to have to cut into Democratic support to win (YEAH, like he could! And I'm the queen of Siberia).
|