Ok, so nuance is a GOOD thing now.

Knippenberg writes:



The greatest Republican strength is President Bush’s evident willingness to stand unwaveringly on principle.



While such a resolute stance by Bush on this issue gains him praise from his base (and especially its cornerstone, the religious right), I don’t know that it won’t be overshadowed by his doing the opposite on other issues.



My less religious and more libertarian friends who typically vote Republican (or, in several cases, claim to be independent and are the voters the Republicans need) are frustrated with his outrageous spending (as I’ve seen on this blog as well) and how he continues to let the government expand, rather than attempting to make it smaller, as Reagan did (these friends get especially mad after being reminded how quickly Bush dropped the Social Security issue after it met serious resistance).



My more religious conservative friends are angry about his lack of initiative on stopping abortion, gay marriage, and physicial-assisted suicide.



Simply because Bush make a stand on this one moral/political issue doesn’t mean that the Republicans are going to get a nice boost, in my opinion. I think that there have been far too many disappointments for this one act to overshadow . . .

Heh. "Physicial". I meant "physician".

Matt,

My argument was restricted to this issue only. Yes, GWB has disappointed some people on some issues, though I think that the conservatives among them are unlikely to vote Democrat. They’re likelier to sit on their hands, though continued Democratic irresponsibility--that is, kowtowing to their netroots--may make even this behavior less likely.

I think that the conservatives among them are unlikely to vote Democrat. They’re likelier to sit on their hands, though continued Democratic irresponsibility



You are probably very right.

If there is anything that is clear about Bush it is that he is not complicated. I don’t really see how a stand, no matter how principled (some might say anachronistic), that 70% of Americans don’t agree with will help the Republicans in the fall. If you notice, in most competative races (all 15 of them) the Republican candidates appear to disagree with the President on this issue. The other races don’t really matter since both parties have effectively eliminated democracy with creative boundaries. Though, Joe Lieberman just tasted some democracy tonight. I bet that stings a bit...