Republicans Using Cheney To Fix Cheney Problem

It's kind of a bad sign when you're trying to save a ridiculously Republican seat in a special election and your ace in the hole is Dick Cheney. Fourthbranch can still raise money, but it's not like he's ever been an enthusiastic campaigner - he's not much for, you know, people.

But this is of course where the GOP stands right now - in trouble of losing House races in the whitest areas of Mississippi - and starting to acknowledge their historically bad position.

The stakes in the 1st District special election couldn't be higher, strategically or symbolically. The loss of a traditionally GOP seat to a Democrat would be the third in a special election this spring and the second in the Deep South after the May 3 victory of Rep. Don Cazayoux (D-La.).

Rank-and-file Republicans say that would force a day of reckoning for their leadership.

"When you connect three dots in anything, that's a bad thing. This connects the dots. At that point, everybody's got to come together and have a come-to-Jesus meeting," said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), a retiring centrist who will help form a new advisory panel at the National Republican Congressional Committee.

"It's a time of sober reflection and, to some extent, resolve. I hope these special elections are a wake-up call," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), the leader of the conservative Republican Study Committee.

The fact that Dick Friggin' Cheney is being sent on the campaign trail is a sign that the wake-up call is so far not being heard. Same with this little quip by Roy Blunt on one of the Sunday shows:

BLITZER: When it comes to domestic economic issues, what is the major difference between President Bush's policies, what he wants to do, and what John McCain would do if he were president?

BLUNT: Well, I think what John McCain wants to do is continue these pro-growth tax policies that our friends on the other side have been talking...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But that's what President Bush wants to do too.

BLUNT: And there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with that.

BLITZER: So it would be in effect a third Bush term when it came to pro-growth tax policies?

BLUNT: It would be. I think it would be. And I think that's a good thing.

The same with the outside Republican allies, airing ads in Senate primaries attacking Republicans who favor SCHIP.

They don't seem to recognize that this is their entire PROBLEM with the electorate - Bush's failed economic plans, Cheney's imperialist neoconservatism, Republican obstruction on popular initiatives like children's health care. This is WHY they're in the hole they're in - it's unlikely employing the SAME methods will get them out of it. This is why practically no Republican is safe in November. This is why Republicans who look forthrightly at the situation will rally to the Democratic position. This is why there's the chance of a realignment election.