The Shifting Ground

The Emergence of Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi is emerging as a central figure in the re-emergence of the Democratic congressional leadership as a force in public debate. The shift has been dramatic. Before she was sworn in as Speaker of the House, Pelosi was known primarily through the caricatures of the right-wing attack media. Her views on the war were not even known as well as those of John Murtha in the House of Representatives. However, Pelosi has managed her 100 hours legislative agenda, the State of the Union speech, and her trip to Iraq and Afghanistan so well that the Washington Post now credits her as "a leading critic of the adminstration's approach in Iraq."

Joe Lieberman Finds a Home. Unlike Nancy Pelosi, the Republican leadership in the House and Senate is having trouble finding their public footing. Desperately engaged in backroom efforts to prevent large numbers of Republicans from supporting any resolutions opposing the surge, the new Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell has largely been absent from public debate. With the vacuum in any Republican leadership in support of President Bush's war policies, Joe Lieberman has emerged as the most important advocate for supporting President Bush other than John McCain. I wouldn't be surprised if the administration isn't asking Lieberman to advocate its policies in media outlets like NPR. If McCain gets nominated, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lieberman as his vice-presidential candidate.

The Collapse of the GOP Political System. The Republicans used to have a system that worked pretty smoothly. Right-wing think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and leading conservative groups like Focus on the Family would provide the Bush administration ideas for policy proposals. When the Bush administration announced these proposals, they then became red meat for the whole chorus of Republican voices including the think tank gurus, conservative pundits, and the talk show hosts. In that way, the Republican apparatus could dominate mainstream political discussion, keep the money coming into conservative groups, and motivate right-wing activists to continue the attacks on Democrats and liberals. That's all fallen apart now. President Bush's domestic proposals on energy conservative, health care, and immigration aren't very conservative anymore. Consequently, the conservative attack media has to devote a large amount of energy to questioning the President as well as attacking the Democrats. The right-wing still supports the President on the War, but that's not exactly motivating the troops or keeping the money coming in. All the parts of the Republican apparatus survive, but they're no longer working in coordination. The system has collapsed.