News You Can Use (Or Ignore)
Lots of good stuff in the news today, but you have to dig for some of it. I’ll save you the trouble by dumpster diving for the tidbits.
When did Abramoff go to the White House and who did he meet? That question will be answered within the next week as the Secret Service turns the White House visitor logs over to Judicial Watch.
A bunch of new polls indicate a gloomy environment for the GOP. Gallup/USA shows the lowest approval of Bush’s Presidency and the lowest marks for the GOP at large since the anti-impeachment days of 1998.
In the meantime, CBS found that 47% believe the Democrats would be better at keeping gas prices low. Of course, that really means 53% don’t think they would be better, think nobody can do it (the right answer given its a supply/demand problem) or think the GOP is better. The poll is adults only, so it’s not terribly surprising the number is around 47%. The Democrats have done a good job of portraying Republicans as tools of the oil industry, so a generic concept like that is bound to emerge in polling with a question like that.
The New York Times has an interesting article on GOP policies toward abortion/abstinence/promiscuity and the morning after pill (subscription required, but they offer a free trial). The column makes the case that GOP efforts to limit contraception are actually driving abortion rates higher.
President Bush’s Food and Drug Administration has blocked that, apparently fearing that better contraception will encourage promiscuity. But unless the libidophobes in the administration mandate chastity belts, their opposition to Plan B amounts to a pro-abortion policy.
Two thoughts on that… A) I like the term libidophobes. I think I’ll incorporate that into my repertoire. B) This article is right on the money. We need to decide if our goal is fewer abortions or a puritanical belief system toward sex. As long as we’re pursuing both on a dual track, we’ll never achieve either.
Finally, under the heading imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Bush-Cheney eCampaign team should feel pretty flattered. It seems the Democrats learned something from our online efforts in 2004 and copied our “testimonials and photos” messages following our online/offline events like Party for the President. Howard Dean sent me a nice little note sharing some of the thoughts from their event this weekend.
Dear Friend,
I wanted to pass along to you a few testimonials and photos from volunteers like you who were out in force this weekend:
Isn’t that sweet? It’s too bad their events system is up to speed yet. If they want to copy us outright, you should be able to generate your own maps and literature online and never have to deal with the party. That’s the point to the Internet. It’s on my terms, not yours.
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