hen the President of the United States says, "trust me", do you?
Do you feel that there is a direct relationship between George Bush saying, of Harriet Miers, his Supreme Court nominee, "I know her. I know her heart," and her description of her friend and client as "The most brilliant man I have ever met?"
There is wavering conservative confidence in the Chief Executive and his convictions.
When, for example, Mr. Bush speaks of "Harry" as being unwavering and that decades from now she'll be the same, perhaps one should remind him that once upon a time, she was a Catholic (now an Evangelical, Born Again, Christian) and not that many years ago she was a Democrat.
The Right has turned on the president in earnest and it is not simply because of his dismal response to Hurricane Katrina or even his promise to spend "whatever it takes" to assist New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. They don't believe he can possibly make such an open-ended offer without increasing taxes. Just about a year ago the president won re-election to a second term and with that victory came an increase in the Republican majority in both the House and the Senate.
The right wing of the party, more and more, is displeased with the President's Secretary of Defense; Bush and Rumsfeld have so badly mishandled the continuing occupation of Iraq.
William Crystal, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard was quoted in the Financial Times as saying, "What are the prospects for holding solid GOP majorities in Congress in 2006, if conservatives are demoralized?" Well, Congressional districts are so gerrymandered in favor of Republicans that they still might hold on to their majorities, but a combination of Republican failings and new ideas... new workable ideas... from strong Democratic candidates just could alter the make up on Capitol Hill.
A further question for you (and I would really enjoy your response), at this early stage, if the race for the White House was between Senator Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Rice, for whom would you vote - and why?