Andrew Busch explains that the Democrats are in trouble over their intransigence on Bushs Social Security proposals (it is not yet a plan). Andy is right, the Demos attitude is exactly what the Republicans should want; its as if Karl Rove had set the whole thing up...Oh, never mind. We dont have to go that far. A sample, but read the whole thing.
The more ferocious and undifferentiated—and the more unfair—Democratic criticisms become, the more likely it is that they will have the effect of healing Republican divisions and unifying the GOP behind the President. Media accounts have almost uniformly stressed how important it is for Republicans to attract some Democratic votes—that is to say, how much Republicans need Democratic disunity on this issue. What those accounts have almost uniformly ignored is that, since the Republicans are in the majority, Democrats need Republican disunity even more than Republicans need Democratic disunity. The Democratic attack strategy is virtually guaranteed to drive Republicans closer together, rather than farther apart.
Beware believing your own spin, Peter. I dont hear a lot of unity among Republicans on this one, but perhaps Im not listening in the right place. Electoral considerations make privatization (or "reform" or "phase out" or whatever term you like for what Bush is actually doing) politically difficult for Republicans, period. And its probably wishful thinking to believe that the electoral pull of being anti-anti-Bush will outweigh the electoral pull of Social Security supporters themselves.