1 Have your words filtered by 36 broadcast and cable networks and hundreds of newspapers and news aggregators 24/7 for six years and see how effective a communicator you'll become. Analogy: A number of the clergy and religious have done a poor or mediocre job over the years so we'll turn the whole thing over to Satan. Analogy II: Cut off your nose to spite your face. Glenn's first point why the Repubs should lose--Terri Schiavo? If the President hadn't acted--hadn't tried to save a woman, with a normal life expectancy, sentenced to death by starvation and dehydration by a blind, probate court judge in Florida who admitted having based his decision of truth-finding on faulty information(that Karen Ann Quinlan was already dead when a co-worker told a joke about her being New Jersey's State Vegetable), I would have lost all respect for him. The only mistake made was not sending Federal troops to bring Terri to Washington to enforce the Congressional subpoenas. Federalism in action. Not sending those troops shows belief in limited Federal powers and trust in the legislation enacted to give the case a fresh look--which was ignored by a Clinton-appointed judge. If you are displeased with the Repubs in power, put more conservative--or at least more effective Repubs in power in the future. Otherwise you will see Osama Bin Laden get 24 months in jail should he ever be captured.

2 1) But Reagan went over the media's heads sometimes and spoke directly to the people. And he did it well. Bush doesn't do that. 2) If the GOP is going to take a loss, now is the time--not 2008. 3) To what degree was the passion about the Terri Schiavo situation a reflection of repressed rage and frustration over the abortion issue?

3 "...They'd be in hot water if they weren't up against the Democrats." News flash: They *are* up against the Democrats. That is all the guidance I require. In my opinion, one of the reasons that many adolescents have such a difficult time is that immaturity leads them to reject a situation they don't like in favor of a situation that becomes (much) worse than what they rejected. I hope that conservative voters are more mature than that. -Bob

4 But the media wasn't in full-blown "leftist mode" during Reagan's time. That didn't start until 1991-92 by my reckoning. There was at least the appearance of objectivity. Bush loves to avoid public arguments because of his personal theory that people stop listening and stop caring who is wrong or right--they just want the people in power to go away(they know the press can't be "voted out of office.") 2)The people that vote our way most of the time are better than Dems who won't vote our way ANY of the time. There are too many critical issues at play to sit this one out--Supreme Court Justices, Global Warming(Bullshit carbon credits with the potential of lowering temperature a fraction of a degree C at the cost of TRILLIONS of $$$$), tax increases(cut rollbacks), $5/gal gas that will never go away, etc., etc... I'll set up a "gauntlet" after the election where you can paddle their asses to make your point. Feel free to use an oar! 3) Well, abortion is part of the Culture of Death and minimizing and devaluing human life. Deciding whose life is worth living is a key element of Socialized medicine. Feeding tubes are considered "extraordinary measures" in most European countries with a national healthcare system. The media must share blame for Terri's execution because polls showed that more than 60% of the people thought this was a case of machines keeping a person alive. If your job is to inform and educate, that fact alone shows you're not doing your job. How many people knew that Terri had a normal life expectancy? How many people knew that she was sentenced to be put to death by a probate court judge. How many people knew that the facts of the case had never been re-examined(you only get one bite of the apple in a minor legal case--subsequent appeals never re-visit the original fact finding). How many people knew that Terri had NONE of the protections given to citizens in a capital case(where the death penalty is on the table)? The autopsy showed those bastards didn't even give her morphine in her final days--Tylenol was the only drug in her system.