Entries for September 2006

When this fall campaign got underway, Virginia Sen. George Allen was considered two things–a shoo-in, and a very high-level Republican presidential contender in 2008. Now, he is neither–and if the way he has handled his campaign recently is any indication, he could be out of politics altogether.

I don't know what it is about these politicians, but when you get them off message it's as if they lose their ability to reason and speak. Take Sen. George Allen. Asked about his Jewish heritage (admittedly, in a debate setting, which was not the place to do it), all he could say was that it's important not to make "aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs." Unfortunately for Allen, no one was making aspersions. Is being Jewish (or the fact that your mother is Jewish) an aspersion? Hardly.

In the end, you know there will be a compromise. The three GOP senators–led by the ex-POW John McCain–will no doubt strike a deal with the White House on this sticky question of torture. They need to work out the question of whether intelligence operatives interrogating prisoners need to adhere to the Geneva Conventions–which the senators want. After all, they say, what would happen to our men and women taken prisoner if we treated our prisoners another way?

It's not hard to understand why the president had a press conference today. His pre-election plan to link Iraq to the war on terrorism had been going very well, to the point where he was rising in the polls. And it looked as if his plan to deal with terrorists would move quickly, but then he came upon a few human speed bumps–Republican speed bumps. And big bumps they are: Sens. John McCain, John Warner, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins–all GOP senators of quite some stature (joined by former Secretary of State Colin Powell) who disagree with his plans for interrogating suspected terrorists. So he had to have a press conference in his own defense.

Usually, when you think of Rhode Island, you might think of a tranquil place–say, Newport. It's a moderate state, no doubt–overwhelmingly Democratic, but it has elected a Republican to the Senate for the past 30 years.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on in politics these days. The Democrats, salivating at the prospect of retaking the House (and maybe even the Senate, although that's much less likely), have decided to play their big cards: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. So the talk is all about dumping Rummy, deploying the troops (home), the incompetence of the Bush administration in prosecuting the war. They want to nationalize this election as a referendum on George W. Bush and his war, and why not? The polls show that the public believes that the president made a mistake in Iraq and hasn't managed it well. It's a no-brainer.

The stakes could not be higher this political year: Control of the Congress is at stake, not to mention the rest of the president's agenda. If he loses control of either house this fall, Congress might just as well adjourn for a couple of years, because nothing will get done.