In an obvious case of "be careful what you wish for," the Rubber Stamp Republican Congress gets its
marching orders:
....Four groups representing evangelical Christians said an internal survey found that 63 percent of "values voters" -- identified as evangelical Christians whose priorities include outlawing abortion and banning same-sex marriage -- "feel Congress has not kept its promises to act on a pro-family agenda."
The Family Research Council, which headlined the survey, also announced it would hold a "Values Voter Summit" in September to "raise the bar of achievement for this Congress." At the top of the agenda could be a call for new leadership in Congress if those in power have not acted on social conservatives' issues....
The House has approved an amendment to the Constitution to outlaw flag burning and passed a bill to crack down on the practice of minors' crossing state lines for abortions to evade legal limits in their own states.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and a possible presidential candidate in 2008, announced early this year that the Senate would consider those and the anti-gay marriage amendment that has failed in both chambers despite Bush's endorsement.
"When America's values are under attack, we need to act," Frist told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
This summer we are going to see the old, tired, "values" issues dragged out once more. The Republican leadership in Congress will continue to turn a blind eye to the real crises facing the nation--energy prices, health care, thousands still homeless from Katrina and a region still in shambles, a president who shows no respect for the rule of law--and will trot out more pointless, divisive, and hateful legislation to "energize their base." Terry Schiavo redux.
The Republicans don't have much choice. They can't credibly run on national security. They can't run on ethics. They can't run on accomplishments (would you bring up Medicare prescription drug reform?). The fear that they counted on to bring voters out in the last election has faded as America slowly wakes up to the fact that they were duped in the Iraq debacle. Republicans have to count on the fact that voter turn-out will be low and that the most extreme of their constituency--their base--will keep them in the majority.
Strategically thinking for the short term, it's as good a plan as any. Turn-out in midterm elections is always low, and energizing the base is what it's all about. But it's not an effective long-term strategy for building a large, robust constituency. And they run the risk alienating and angering the larger part of the population to the point that they are energized to vote against extremism. But that will only happen if Democrats actually give them a reason to.