The Bizarro World Of GOP Politics

You practically need a Venn Diagram to follow this one:

Republicans are taking a page out of the Democrats’ tried-and-tested playbook: They’re trying to dent Sen. Arlen Specter’s popularity among Democrats in Pennsylvania by tying him to former President Bush.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is launching about 100,000 robo-calls to registered Democrats in Pennsylvania, reminding voters of Specter’s relationship with the former president.

“I’ve recorded this message…to help you welcome your newest Republican senator, Arlen Specter,” a narrator on the call says. “We wanted to make sure that we properly introduced him to you.”

The phone call then features audio from Bush’s endorsement of Specter during his competitive 2004 GOP primary against Toomey.

“I’m here to say it as plainly as I can, Arlen Specter is the right man for the United States Senate,” Bush says in the robo-call. "I can count on this man -- see that's important. He's a firm ally when it matters most."

This, to my knowledge, is the first time Republicans have invoked former President Bush to engender a negative reaction. But since it worked so well for Democrats in 2006 and 2008, why not give it a try?

And this is hilarious:

[GOP] Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s appearance at a Michigan county Republican Party event was scrapped this week after the county chairwoman said that hosting the moderate Utah governor would mean abandoning the party's conservative principles.

Kent County Republican Party Chairwoman Joanne Voorhees abruptly canceled the party fundraiser scheduled for Saturday.

"The voters want and expect us to stand on principle and return to our roots. Unfortunately, by holding an event with Governor Huntsman, we would be doing the exact opposite," Voorhees wrote in an e-mail quoted in The Grand Rapids Press .

Voorhees did not specify which issues she felt were contrary to the party's principles and did not return messages left at the party headquarters and on her cell phone.

The group Campaign for Michigan Families praised the cancellation, attributing it to Huntsman's support of civil unions, and urged the Oakland and Kalamazoo county parties, where Huntsman is also scheduled to speak this weekend, to do the same. * * *

A recent poll showed that only 20% of voters in this country now identify themselves as Republican, and I remember thinking to myself, "well, that can't be right." Now I'm not so sure (and neither is at least one prominent Republican).

By the way, I think this GOP congresswoman has a great last name, given that she appears to be right of Hitler (and before you send me angry comments about how I compared someone to Hitler, be advised that I am making no such comparison -- I'm saying that she's "right of Hitler").