ALARM BELLS RINGING IN THE GOP. ARE THINGS GOING WRONG?

Yesterday John Boehner's office was gloating about how leadership muscle inside the House GOP caucus was preventing any more Republican backbenchers from buckling to Democratic (and constituent) pressure on the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

One of the architects of the Republican plan to deny health care to needy children is Ohio's far right John Boehner, whose own children are, of course, covered by taxpayer-funded health care. Boehner's office issued a crowing statement about how the Republicans were winning their obstructionist game again. “The Democrats’ efforts to pressure members to switch their votes has been a complete and total failure. Our members are resolved to sustain the president’s veto, while working toward a bill that puts low-income children first.”

Behind the tattered, blood red curtain, there was considerably less gloating and considerably more nail biting. When the White House invited some Republican congressional functionaries over for a chat and asked them how morale was holding up for GOP members of Congress the answer was "not so well."

Under fierce attack on children’s health insurance, beset by politically inconvenient retirements and uncertain if another scandal lurks around the corner, Congressional Republicans are feeling a bit under siege as even one of their former leaders predicts 2008 [w]ould be a Democratic year... President Bush’s veto of an expansion of that program and the strategic failure have exposed vulnerable Republicans to a backlash and allowed the party to be painted as uncaring.

The White House is telling them to keep a stiff upper lip and Republican congressmen are on the verge of telling Bush to shove something stiff up where the sun don't shine. Even a timid and clueless backbencher nonentity like Randy Kuhl, likely to lose his congressional seat to a surging Eric Massa next year, whimpered that "The president has let the debate on health care down by not offering an alternative." Wah, wah, wah. And Ed Gillespie, Rove's replacement, has shown himself to be a complete failure, apparently unaware that the 18 Republicans senators and 45 Republican congressmen and women are... Republicans-- with Republican constituents.