NBC/WSJ Numbers Not Good for Republicans

I have no idea if the Democrats will win one house, two houses or none in November. Everything is up to the American voter and how alert they are to the fact and meaning of one Republican fiasco after another. And how many voters turn out.

Will there be an October surprise? I have no ideas about that either. Anything Bush does this late in the day has to be taken with a serious grain of salt. Any promises he makes or breakthroughs he claims has to be considered in light of a long string of broken promises and years of disconnect between word and deed. After almost six years in office, Bush has the poorest performance record of any two-term president in our nation's history. And Congress, with the help of a Republican majority, has repeatedly rubber stamped Bush's recklessness and incompetence. Will this be the year the American voters says enough is enough?

MSNBC has a story out on the latest poll by NBC/WSJ:

Just 20 days until Election Day, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds approval of the GOP-held Congress is at its lowest mark in 14 years, the Republican Party's favorability rating is at an all-time low and President George W. Bush's approval rating remains mired in the 30s -- all ominous signs for a party trying to maintain control of Congress.

In fact, according to the poll, Republicans are in worse shape on some key measures than Democrats were in 1994, when they lost their congressional majorities.

(snip)

The poll, which was taken of 1,006 registered voters from Oct. 13-16 and has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points, comes a few weeks after Republicans encountered a series of setbacks, including the release of an intelligence estimate calling the Iraq war a "cause célèbre" for Islamic militants, journalist Bob Woodward's unfavorable portrayal of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq, and the news that former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had inappropriate correspondence with teenage congressional pages.

None of the numbers talk about the credibility of Republicans in Washington these days but I suspect their credibility numbers are in the twenties if not in the teens. The inability of Republicans in Washington to accept responsibility for anything these days speaks volumes. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is the classic model of passing the buck.

Speaking of credibility or lack thereof, the latest tactic of Republicans up for reelection this year is to distant themselves from President Bush after praising him and rubber stamping everything he wants for more than five years; David Gregory of NBC News has the story on effort by many Republicans to avoid Bush:

President Bush is a big draw in campaign 2006 — for Democrats eager to link their GOP opponents with an unpopular president.

(snip)

Jim Webb, challenging Republican Sen. George Allen in Virginia, thinks Allen, particularly when it comes to the war in Iraq, is loyal to a fault.

"People are looking for someone who has the courage to stand up to power when power is being use wrongly," says Webb.

The Democratic attacks have led some Republicans in moderate districts to highlight their independence.

(snip)

"It's a simple matter of Bush's unpopularity," says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "He's low enough in the polls so that he's a minus at the polls for Republicans for Senate and House and governor. So they put him at arm's length."

In the past twenty years, voters have tended from time to time to reject some of the more extremist Republicans. There are certainly many right wing Republicans who deserve to lose their seats this year. In some cases, it's moderate Republicans that may lose their seats and that's too bad since the Republican Party can use more moderates. But where have moderate Republicans been every time Bush's henchman in Congress or his supporters in the media have used cheap stunts to call Democrats traitors or supporters of terrorists? And where have moderates been as deficits spiral out of control or seniors look for decent prices on drugs? The issues are many when Republican moderates were nowhere to be found.

And, to a man and woman, when it has often mattered most, Republicans have refused to hold Bush accountable. Only on the rarest of occassions has any Republican stood up to Bush and meant it without caving in a few days later. Where were the moderates when Hastert and DeLay made a mockery of the House ethics committee? Where were the moderates when DeLay, Cunningham and Abramoff were in the height of their power? Where were the moderates when billions of dollars were disappearing in Iraq?

I think we're all tired of Republican moderates being praised in the media for doing once in a blue moon what Democrats were doing every day: representing the country and upholding the US Constitution. When the Republican Party rebuilds itself, it's going to need moderates but it also needs moderates who will stand up to the craziness and incompetence of the right wingers rather than caving in because of possibly losing a committee chair, campaign funding or some perk.

Democrats have been running on less money for years and obviously don't have any committee chairs at the moment and although their record in these troubled times has sometimes been mixed because of the enormous pressures they have had deal with, including relentless propaganda and attacks from well-financed right wing media types who will smear anyone, including veterans, the overwhelming majority of Democrats have remembered what kind of country we're supposed to be.

I keep thinking of Jack Murtha standing up to an onslaught of Republican attacks in the House last fall. That's courage and leadership. And I keep thinking of Senator Byrd reminding us again and again of everyone's responsibility to the highest laws of our nation. Too many laws have been broken of late, in the House, in the Senate and in the Bush Administration. It's time for the Democrats to come back.