The day was coming.
Yesterday, eleven Republican Congressmen went to the White House bearing a message for President Bush. Their message for the President?
He’s lost credibility on Iraq.
The President’s approval rating is south of thirty percent. That Republican Congressmen will start to peel from the monolithic bloc in support of the President’s failed policies doesn’t surprise me–they, not the President, are up for re-election next November. They, not the President, need to explain to their constituents why they’ve supported–worse, enabled–for so long a failed policy and a failed Presidency. For their own future electibility Republicans will have to abandon the President.
This could be a first blast. Will we see Bush change course? It’s unlikely, not with his certaintude of his own infalliability. But if Bush remains intransigent we’re likely to see other Republicans abandon the President’s Iraq policies, perhaps even sponsor or co-sponsor legislation defunding the war or rescinding the President’s authorization to use military force.
The winds are changing. The Republican facade has begun to crack.
The 11 Congressmen who met with the President were the fairly moderate members of the party (guys like Tom Davis from Virginia). It’s going to take guys like Dennis Hastert and Orrin Hatch to turn before the President even begins to consider doing so.