tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post4227854264947150099..comments2008-12-05T00:44:04.767-05:00Anthony Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00043374303541804437noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865494184012705718.post-31927884597666568502008-12-05T00:44:00.000-05:002008-12-05T00:44:00.000-05:00The overall point of your post is a good one, AP. But as usual, I have some nits to pick.<BR/><BR/><I>". . . for the Democrats to be able to block a Republican filibuster, they will need to attract enough moderate Republicans to offset the likely defections of members of their own party."</I><BR/><BR/>Unless I'm missing something, if you were to gather all remaining genuinely moderate Senate Republicans at a card table, you'd have to bring in a Democrat to get up a game of Bridge.<BR/><BR/><I>". . . the Republican Party has become much more conservative over the past two election cycles as a result of the defeats of fellow moderates and the confinement of the party to the culturally conservative South, Plains, and Mountain West."</I><BR/><BR/>The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly neoconservative over the last 30 years because they have made their moderates unwelcome, going so far as to force some moderate candidates and officeholders out.<BR/><BR/><I>". . . Democrats learned in 2004 that you can never beat something with nothing. John Kerry ran as "not Bush" and lost."</I><BR/><BR/>Neither fair nor accurate. Not that very many bothered to read them, but John Kerry did go to the trouble to lay out well-thought-out and surprisingly detailed plans for what he wanted to accomplish as president. It was about good government, getting back to the rule of law, dealing effectively with problems plaguing all Americans, restoring and sensibly reconfiguring the military, and cleaning the sludge off America's reputation abroad. That was not nothing.<BR/><BR/>Bush won re-election thanks to a big big-money advantage, a media so scared of losing access to the halls of power they needed to wear Depends to work, Swiftboat liars and a voting public more impressed with faux, chickenhawk patriotism than the offer of honest, sensible and ethical governance. <BR/><BR/>I expect Senate Republicans to behave more like a narrowly focused interest group than a big-tent national party, because that's what the GOP has become. <BR/><BR/>The moment Republicans perceive more political advantage in obstructing Obama and the Democrats' every move to solve the country's problems than in working cooperatively, they will obstruct with a vengeance. That's because with them, governing — solving and preventing problems people are struggling with — is not their first or even second priority. With conservative Republicans, it's all about winning elections and wielding power to benefit their big-money backers, and to see to it they will keep winning elections. <BR/><BR/>I think one of the few surviving moderate Republicans, soon to be an ex-senator, Chuck Hagel, would tell you as much, if you could get him to speak off the record. Face it, he's not leaving the Senate because the pay and benefits are disappointing.S.W. Andersonhttp://wpblog.ohpinion.comnoreply@blogger.com