"Shooting the Wad!"

What gives?

I think Bush has shot his wad!

He has pissed people off about the economy, jobs, the War in Iraq and more than half the population now admits that they don't feel one bit safer with him in office.

What's more, the centerpieces of Bush's second term are no nearer being accepted by the population of this country. No one wants him tampering with Social Security because they've seen what he's capable of doing or not doing after Katrina. The Klotz factor reflects his administration's disinterest with the public's welfare and that has struck home like nothing else!
In short, the trust factor is this close to being used up. And once that's gone, what do you think will happen?
We'll you don't need a crystal ball to see it.
Moderate Republicans are emerging from their cocoons and starting to speak up against many of the things that Bush had been pushing over the years--from drilling in the Arctic wilderness to the War in Iraq.

Republican moderates are a good canary in the miner's cage because they seem to understand what it takes to survive better than most. And they see that Bush is no "populist" like his idol, Ron Reagan. Unlike Ron Reagan, Mr. Teflon Man, things are starting to stick to George Bush--things that he's not particularly happy about. Many see Bush as the problem with the aftermath of the storm; not the Mayor or the Governor of the beleagured state of Louisiana. They also see the indictments and investigations coming awfully close to the seat of power which conceivably could leave Bush nowhere to turn in his second term. And many have developed a keen dislike for both Rumsfeld and Cheney, the real president, for their brashness and disregard for things that we consider democratic freedoms...

As many of you will note, this has had the democrats coming alive at last smelling flesh and the opportunity to turn a route into a two way battle at last.

The choice of Harriet Meirs helped those who were beginning to question Bush's judgment. In this case, the hard edge came from the extreme right who accused Bush of letting them down after all of the money they anted up and the support they lent him.

After all this, Bush finds himself between a rock and a hard place!

What will the outcome be?

Well, aside from the re-emergence of the Moderates, even the conservatives are starting to break away. They were always the 'balanced books' set who believed that increasing the Federal debt could not be good for anything. Yet, Bush has managed to grow government like his dad and his icon faster than anyone.

Most conservatives believe that where we are today in debt is going to be with us a long time and they don't like the idea that China has the upper hand. Don't expect them to come out in droves to vote for the Party again!...Mostly, unless the Dems pick another Kerry, they will probably stay home...

So, whose left? The die-hards who still Bush as their one last hope. And they may be right but for the wrong reasons. It seems that at this point in time, the voting public is ready to abandon many of Bush's ideas. They no longer see him as the answer to their needs and, undoubtedly, they have begun the search for somebody they can better identify with.

For the rest of us, it looks like the only thing Bush may win on is improving border security. Apparently, this is a very hot issue along the borders and it's starting to heat up elsewhere because many perceive the illegal aliens as taking jobs away from the working class...

In so doing, he would pass on attempts to revise discussions on Social Security and some of the other programs he was trying to bulldoze through. This assessment is predicated that he won't try to engineer something to keep his party in power like a new terrorist threat. This always stands in the wings and if that happens, all bets are off for a smooth transition which many are beginning to anticipate now...

It is still too early to predict what will happen but increasingly it looks as if Rice may be the Republican Party's answer to Hillary and if that happens Cheney may even come to the surface again to once more take over the reins of his old company and declare the separate and independent country of Wyoming. Stranger things have happened!

Les Aaron

THE UBIQUITOUS FLYING BLUE BLOG
WWW.LESAARON.BLOGSPOT.COM