Signs of Life

With George Bush continuing to show a low approval rating and the Republican House and Senate showing approval ratings even lower than the President, Republican politicians are worried about their future in politics. Will they be able to get re-elected in November 2006, when all of Congress and many Senate seats are up for grabs in the November 2006 election.

Barring election fraud, Democrats stand to make significant gains in both the House and Senate possibly even gaining a majority in either house.

There were two interesting and relevant stories which I found at Raw Story on Wednesday July 19.

The first story examines Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht's recent trip to Iraq. To put it simply, he was horrified. The situation there is worse than he ever imagined and he is even calling for the removal of some troops because they don't have control of Baghdad.

The second story involves Republican Senator John Thune. He is a first term Senator in fact he took Tom Daschle's Senate seat in 2004. Thume succinctly states, "If I were running in the state this year, you obviously don't embrace the president and his agenda."

Gutknecht presents a very rich perspective on Iraq because he is A. a Republican and B. not toting the Dick Cheney Republican myth of all is getting better in Iraq. We are seeing Republicans breaking ranks with the President over Iraq. This will affect the overall perception of the war on Americans strictly because rightly or wrongly, the Republicans are viewed as the party of national security. So with a Republican voice saying how it is and that its time to get out, Democrats like Murtha and all those calling for troop withdrawal benefit.

Thune and Gutknecht represent a split within the Republican Party. On the one hand the extremist neo-cons want to extend the war into Iran, while others are presenting the side, hey this is not working let's get moving out. The Republicans are notoriously united however with very low approval ratings, and the fear of losing an election, some are coming forward in a more independent fashion.