Everyone's Favorite Subject: Republicans in Disarray

Two tales - via Daily Kos, so you've seen them already, but for the record...

Revolt at the RNC: Mel Martinez is not a popular man.

And,

Iraq war uniting Dems, dividing Republicans:

A generation ago, a war—Vietnam—launched a realignment of American politics. Now, it seems increasingly clear, Iraq is doing the same. In 1968 college students flocked to the New Hampshire primary to protest Lyndon Johnson's policies, sparking a civil war in the Democratic Party on foreign policy that lasted for a generation. By contrast, Vietnam united the GOP around an anti-communist crusade that endured for decades. "Ronald Reagan was gung-ho about Vietnam," says Craig Shirley, a GOP operative and Reagan biographer. "It solidified his world view, and the party's."

Now a mirror image is developing. Democrats seem to be uniting around a theme—the primacy of global diplomacy and congressional review. Republicans, by contrast, have lost the unity that they had during the cold war and the early years of the war on terror.

As Republican divisions grow, Democrats, pressed by their antiwar grass roots, are drawing together.

Eventually the Republicans will get their act together. But the more the Democrats can stay focused and keep pressing the political attack, the longer they can delay that regrouping. And, the more united and on-message the Democrats are, the harder they'll make it for the right to frame the Dolchstosslegende.

Labels: Democrats, Dolchstosslegende, Republicans

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 6:45 PM