Does defeat have an odor ... and are they smelling it lately?

[Stinky The Clown]

Seems to me like there's chinks in the armor everywhere you look. No groundswell ... but chinks ... here a chink ... there a chink .....

Can it be a partial explanation for Bush getting even more extreme in the very start of Bushco II - the Sequel? Do they fear a loss of one house of congress come '06? Do their internal polls tell them something that makes them fearful?

I can't point to anything specific ... just afeeling I'm getting. Kind of a whiff of fear growing out of the hint of an aroma of defeat.

[ms liberty]

1. The odor is chum in the water, maybe it will attract the sharks...n/t

[BillZBubb]

2. No doubt their polling has them worried.

But they never worry too much. They know they'll find a few wedge issues to make the centerpiece of the next election. The sheeple will, as always, forget what is important and vote on the emotional issues that they are force fed.

I think we are due for a good round of immigrant bashing. That's the vibe I'm getting. That one should be enough for the Repugs to hold their congressional majorities intact.

[kentuck]

3. Yes, it smells like shit before it is burned with diesel fuel...

Just as napalm in the morning smells like victory....

[Jade Fox]

4. I think the Religious Right has Bushco by the short hairs....

It's my understanding that during this last Presidential campaign the
Religious Right let it be known that, after 25 years of being courted by
the GOP for votes with promises the GOP dared not try to keep
(because of the risk of alienating the majority of Americans), they were
fed up. The RR told Bushco they would deliver the votes once again, but
expected serious action on their agenda in return.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Paybacks are hell .....

I think we're already seeing that clash between the corporate extremists (CE) and the religious extremists (RE). They damned sure want their payback, and the CE don't seem to want to go where the RE want them to go. And the average voter is just getting the shit scared out of him as these similar but distinct agendas get clearer and clearer.

The result, it seems to me, is the sagging in the poll numbers.

Some think the most obvious RE candidate at this point, Frist, may have a few self-inflicted bullet holes in his feet. This from Charlie Cook in the National Journal:

Bill Frist? Republican campaign consultants tend to think that he has hurt his chances in recent months. His political instincts are questioned with increasing frequency, and his pedantic speaking style is unimpressive.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0505/050305op.htm

[sendero]

6. Pedantic speaking style?

All I've heard from him I would call "catatonic speaking style".

Frist has absolutely no chance of rising in his political career. Like Lieberman, his speaking style couldn't motivate a voter if his life depended on it.

I always find it interesting that people figure this out late in a person's career. Winning in the Senate bears little relationship to winning the presidency. The presidency is about how you look and sound on TV. Only a small percentage of pols have the goods.

At least there is one Repug I can't stand who I'm not worried about nonetheless. :)