I stumbled on a panel discussing the question of impeaching President Bush on CSPAN today (a replay of a recording from March 2), and it got me thinking about the risk the republican party is running of self destructing. First a little background.

I used to be a republican. It's been quite a few years since I decided I no longer was, but for the most part since then, I've agreed more with the republican party's policies than any other. I'd say that my core philosophy is in line with the core philosophy behind the libertarian party than any other, but my impression is that that party is populated by people who are in some way too far out of the mainstream to be listened to anywhere else--people who I wish had more freedom to live the way they chose, but whose values are so different from mine that I wouldn't dream of electing them. Then there are the democrats, whose hearts are often in the right place, but whose policy agenda I think would bring our nation to it's knees--I'd like to see them reach many (but not all) of their goals, but I feat that, left to their own devices, they'd fail.

So where are the republicans today, and where am I? As a republican sympathizer or even supporter who believes that the republican agenda is better for the country than the democrat agenda, and I'm afraid that George W. Bush is going to turn the country over to the democrats if the rest of the party doesn't take action. Members of congress are already asserting their independence from the president on some issues in preparation for the upcoming midterm election, but I don't think they're going far enough. I think they need to be looking further down the road to the next presidential election and considering what they need to do now in order to have even the slimmest chance of keeping the White House. And this is what I think they need to do.

I think it's highly likely that the democrats are going to get a lot of support from people who aren't happy with Bush at the midterm election. If the republicans want to keep control of congress, they must distance themselves from Bush. Some democrats are going to be campaigning for impeachment, saying that the only way to get rid of Bush will be to give congress to the democrats, and I suspect that that message will have enough traction to swing some races. But the real danger to the republican party may not be the democrats taking over congress and impeaching the president--the real risk may be that Bush doesn't get impeached, and then in 2008, no republican has a prayer of winning the presidency or a close congressional race.

Reader Comment:
Alpha Gecko » “Dear republican party, I told you so!” said:
[...] As I prognosticated back in March (along with a million other precient bloggers, I’m sure), the republican party suffered a severe drubbing in the midterm elections. It looks like the candidates didn’t distance themselves enough fro...
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I wonder whether the best move for the republicans to support the calls for an investigation into whether Bush should be impeached, and if it's found that there are grounds for it, proceed with the impeachment. If the republicans help throw him out, that will send a clear message to the nation that whoever takes his place (assuming Cheny gets ousted too, which seems likely if Bush goes) is as good as a member of a different party from Bush. Give that person a year or two to prove that the republican party is still what the people who voted republican last time wanted it to be, and in 2008, the republicans have a chance. But if the party stands behind Bush now, while his approval ratings are so low (and is there any indication that they could improve? Not that I've seen), the people are going to vote the republicans out, and vote in people who they believe will represent them, and not stand against them in support of a president of whom they no longer approve.

Did I think Saddam needed to go? Yes. Was that only because I was decieved by the current administration? No. But does that mean that I approve of how Bush has handled his presidency? Absolutely not! I hadn't believed it possible that he could do so much to lose the trust of the American people. A little more honesty. A little more openness. A little more trust of the people's ability to understand the issues. That's all it would have taken to keep me in his corner. If the party can shake off his influence, I'll stay in their corner. But if not. Well, I don't know where I'll go.