Much Ado About.....
Several interesting items this morning. The usually clear headed Michael Barone gets tied up in his own facts and logic. After once more displaying the incredible depth of his political knowledge, he arrives at two diametrically opposed conclusions.
1. The Republicans SHOULD worry about the results of special election in Ohio.
2. Special election results are notoriously poor predictors of general election results.
Newt Gingrich also weighs in and so I wonder if maybe this is just a case of Barone and Newt making sure that the GOP brain trust is awake.
In any case I would argue that the narrow victory by the Republican in the special election in Ohio's second district is virtually worthless as a harbinger of the '06 general.
The "out" party is motivated to go for the upset in these special elections while the "in" party is bored and satisfied with all its goodies. When only 20% or so of voters bother to come out, you naturally should be prepared for the possibility of wacky results.
George Will has a piece out today that in the main makes a thoroughly logical case for Bill Frist's stem cell position. However in his rush to show what a broad minded fellow he is, Will takes a swipe at conservatives that just does not hold up under scrutiny.
"Some "social conservatives" purporting to speak for "values voters" - what voters do not intend their political choices to advance their values? - insist, simultaneously, that Frist made a gross political blunder, and that he sacrificed principles to politics. This train wreck of logic makes one's head hurt."
This train wreck of a paragraph serves to prove beyond all doubt that Will has completed his multi-year transition from conservative to moderate. His decision to enclose in quotation marks "social conservatives" and "values voters" clearly transmits his disdain for both groups. His lame attempt to cast ALL voters as "values voters" sounds like something he read in Jon Stewart's Snarky Things To Say About Conservatives manual.
Finally his snide implication that Frist's decision CAN'T be both politically motivated AND a political blunder is simply dishonest and embarrassingly stupid. Below is a short list of well known events that fit both descriptions.
3. Gary Hart(pence)'s invitation to reporters to follow him for proof of his upstanding life style.
2. Jimmy Carter's cloying reference to his nuclear war advisor, daughter Amy.
1. Mike Dukakis' ride in a tank to show what a bad mamajama he was.
Unprincipled actions for political gain that turn into blunders happen pretty much every day in Washington. Will's snippy tone serves only underline the bankrupt state of his truth and logic cupboard.
