Friday, October 27, 2006

Midterm paranoia

In spite of the positive polls, in spite of the avalanche of scandal that's been unloaded on the GOP, in spite of all the indications that the republicans will lose the house and/or senate on November 7, I've had this feeling of impending doom about it. I've been dreading that this will be a repeat of 2004 -- with all the exit polls pointing to a Kerry victory, I was stunned to turn on the TV the next day and find Georgie crowing about 'political capital'. My sense of foreboding grew even more after the New Jersey equal marriage decision this week. Of course the decision itself was good news, but I could see a dark lining beneath the silver cloud. That the GOP might somehow use the Jersey decision to rally the most ignorant elements of their base, at the expense of an entire community of Americans. And it looks like they might just try, those bastards.

I still have hope that it's too late for this to do the GOP any good, or the equal marriage process any harm, but it depends how virulent a shit-storm they release. As incompetent as they are in most other areas, virulent shit-storms are something the republicans do well.