Historians may, in the words of Michael Scherer writing at Time:
But if so, those historians will also have to note that while a majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives voted in support of the bill, nonetheless a majority of Republicans — the party of the current administration which provided the framework of the plan as an informed starting point — failed to vote for it. President Bush’s credibility is evidently shot, and even Senator McCain’s disingenuous grandstanding couldn’t make it seem prudent for most of that party to toe the line – a SHOCKING reversal of fortunes that led to a mutiny in the GOP.
Republican Rift
It is this GOP fracture, a state of conflict within the once-unified party holding the White House and ultimately responsible for the crisis, that is the fundamental reason the bailout bill didn’t pass on Monday. The damage to McCain’s campaign for the Oval Office may exceed the effects of his running-mate’s apparent unreadiness to be elected as his Vice President, which was already causing rifts among party insiders.
5 Weeks From Today
The next five weeks may become the stuff of political legends. The Rove-inspired GOP may turn the rhetoric really ugly if the inflammatory words of GA Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and Ft.Mill, SC Mayor Danny Funderburk are bellwethers of Republican desperation. It’s looking as though the tried and true tactics of “fears and smears” may be what remains in their old-school repertoires to combat the calm intellectual pragmatism exhibited by Senator Obama – which may serve to sweep Democrats in down-ticket on November 4th, too.
Filed under: 2008 Election, John McCain, Obama, Obama's Campaign for Change, U.S. economy, politics, presidential campaign, racism, smear, taxes | Tagged: Barack Obama, BHO, Bush bailout bill, Danny Funderburk, economic crisis, fear mongers, GOP disunity, John McCain, Lynn Westmoreland, political credibility crisis, republican mutiny, republican rifts, Republican U.S. Representatives revolt, Rovian campaign tactics, smear mongering
[...] evening with as open a mind as is possible as we focus on the issues important to the voters – the economic bailout being considered by congress, deregulation, Iraq, taxes, and health care to name a few obvious [...]