My Confession

[spence]

Originally Posted by Joe

but believe W has irreparably damaged the party.

Bush didn't do it alone, and I think it goes back to the Republican leadership in the House under President Clinton.

And the damage isn't just to the GOP, than could be repaired with the right leadership. The real damage is to our country.

You can say the Dems have done this, the Dems have done that...but there's really no comparrison.

-spence

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by spence

Bush didn't do it alone, and I think it goes back to the Republican leadership in the House under President Clinton.

I tend to agree with that. I think it all started when the GOP Congressional leadership made the fools' choice to impeach a lame duck president in the last year and a half of his term, for reasons that still escape me. Knowing that there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of removing him from office on a 2/3rds vote in the Senate.

It was the ultimate political show trial

It hardened the party lines and made bi-partisanship almost impossible. It became more like a cultural war than a political debate.

We haven't recovered from it. The 2000 Florida fiasco might have been resolved without all of the personal rancor on both sides, absent the impechment sideshow.

[spence]

Originally Posted by Mike P

It hardened the party lines and made bi-partisanship almost impossible. It became more like a cultural war than a political debate.

Very true, but I'd go back a few years even to after the Contract with America. It was shortly after that the House started to centralize power and change the procedures to virtually eliminate Democrats from the legislative process.

They ramped up "K Street" and completely redefined how special interests would control our government and focus only on conservative interests.

Once Bush was elected the problem got even worse. According to a study by the Cato Institute, the number of lobbyists in Washington has doubled since 2000. Thank god the Abramoff story broke and put a spotlight on the entire affair.

Gingrich, Delay, Boener etc... all helped make this a reality.

-spence