"Where to From Here?"

With one week to go in the 2008 elections, it seems like the pressure has finally really gotten to the RNC and to high ranking members and candidates within the party. The problems continue to mount for Sen. McCain and the Republican Party. Gov. Palin has been accused in the media of “going rogue,” and according to McCain advisers has been labeled a “diva.” According to CNN “Sarah the Diva takes no advice from any of us,” and they claim that “She is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Also, the latest polls show that Sen. Obama is still anywhere from 5-7 percentage points ahead of Sen. McCain. On Wednesday evening, Sen. Obama is airing a 30 minute address on several national broadcast and cable television networks that his campaign has purchased air time for. There is no telling how this will affect the polls, but with the kind of war chest the DNC currently has it does not bode well for the numbers. The question the Republicans should ask is; “Where to From Here?”
With limited spending available and time running out the question many in the RNC should ask is, Should Republicans cut Bait? Chris Cillizzas’ blog features an article from former Pres. Bush’s speech- writer David Frum who suggests that maybe it is time for the RNC to cut funding from the McCain campaign and to concentrate their spending on saving some of the closely contested House and Senate races where Republicans could still possibly retain their seats. This is a very good point although it may be too little too late.
Currently the Democrats hold a majority in Congress. The house has 233 seats and the Senate has 51 seats. Needed for a majority are House ( 218), and Senate (51). Most neutral observers estimate that the Republicans will possibly lose another 20 House seats and 8 Senate seats. If this happens the Republicans could wind up holding no real power whatsoever for at least the next two years. Surely the thought of a Democratic president, House and Senate has most in the GOP feeling rather ill at any point.

The Republican party has more problems than just losing the White House, or more Congressional seats. They really should be concerned on how they fell so far from where they were when President Bush took office. This is a president whose approval ratings were excellent and who after two years had control of the Congress. Polls at the time and at the time of the 2004 election had Pres. Bush rated very high in all areas of moral standards. Whether people agreed with his policies or not, he was someone who a majority of the citizens trusted. The same polls taken recently do not reflect the publics trust in either Pres. Bush, or the GOP in general.The question in my mind the Republicans should be asking each other is, “How Do We Get Back From here?"

Mixed Messages

There are less than thirty days left until the Presidential Election and it seems like things have come to a point in his campaign where Senator McCain must decide how he would like history to remember him. The actions so far of the Republican Party Strategists, and in many ways those of Sen. McCain himself may have already done irrevocable harm to his reputation as a hero to the United States, and a man of honor.
In an article titled “More Mixed Messages from McCain” posted on ABC News.com, Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper’s blog site, some responses have shown how for most of “Main St., America, ” McCain’s message has perhaps lost it’s direction, and is due to a certain extent from his own actions.
Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and the Republican strategists have over the course of the last week ratcheted up the assault on Senator Obamas’ “character through association.” Governor Palin has been quoted as saying that Senator Obama was “palling around with an admitted terrorist,” William Ayers. Sen. Obama has also been attacked for his association to his often inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his support of Louis Farrakhan. Any reports of any wrongdoing on either issue were unsubstantiated.
Senator McCain is shown in several videos at his town hall meetings trying to calm the fears of Republican followers over the fact that “that guy” Obama, may indeed be someone who “cohorts with domestic terrorists, such as Ayers,” or that he maybe even be “an Arab.” Senator McCain did admirably say to both followers that they “need not be afraid” and that Senator Obama was not an Arab. But the question still remains; “how did he get to this point in the first place?”
Mr. Tappers’ article points out that Sen. McCain have “no intention on letting up on the character attacks.” Judged by the responses from his posting, I can only pray that he is wrong. Senator McCain has had two opportunities on national television debates with in excess of 60 million viewers to confront Sen. Obama on his character, and has failed to do so face to face. His body language and facial expressions in the first debate, as well as his over the shoulder reference to Sen.Obama as “that guy” in the second debate have in my opinion helped to fuel this type of hysteria. Having Pastor Conrad invoking the intercession of the “real God” before a campaign rally was also a huge mistake.
Senator McCain and his campaign should leave God out of this campaign. He did not create the mess we are in, nor is he running for office. The American people want to hear real solutions to real problems and not unfounded character attacks.