PANIC AND DESPAIR HAVE DRIVEN THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT INSANE

Go my child and bring unto us 4 more years... and a fat goat

The Inside the Beltway GOP Establishment first blamed their mounting problems at ballot boxes across the country-- huge and enthusiastic Democratic turnouts vs frighteningly anemic and perfunctory Republican turnout, followed by staggering losses in state legislative and congressional special elections in "safe" Republican districts in New York, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi-- on... crappy candidates. That went over rather badly with the Republican grassroots. So John Boehner and Tom Cole started blaming each other instead and Newt Gingrich and Richard Viguerie publicly blasted the Insiders with a dose of reality: they are completely out of sync with mainstream America.

Panic-stricken career politicians in the congressional Republican caucus have suddenly realized that they will soon be pounding the pavement looking for real jobs-- and in an economic environment their own policies have made rather unattractive for the unemployed. This week almost 3 dozen Republicans voted to increase the taxes of the wealthiest Americans. On Thursday, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation to modernize the GI Bill so that vets of Bush's Iraq and Afghanistan wars can get educations after serving. It included a tax increase of one half a percent on people making more than $500,000 a year to pay for it. Joining the mainstream were a combination of Republicans sorry that their party had strayed so far right plus quite a few vulnerable incumbents ready to abandon their extremist "principles" in an attempt to keep their jobs. The Republican congressman voting to raise taxes on the wealthy:

Steve Buyer (IN)
Shelley  Moore Capito (WV)
Howard Castle (DE)
Charlie Dent (PA)
Jo Ann Emerson (MO)
Phil English (PA)
Jeff Fortenberry (NE)
Vito Fossella (NY)
Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Robin Hayes (R-NC)
Tim Johnson (IL)
Walter Jones (NC)
Peter King (NY)
Mark Kirk (IL)
Joe Knollenberg (MI)
Ray LaHood (IL)
Steve LaTourette (OH)
Frank LoBiondo (NJ)
John McHugh (NY)
Candice Miller (MI)
Tim Murphy (PA)
Tom Petri (WI)
Todd Platts (PA)
Jon Porter (NV)
Jim Ramstad (MN)
Rick Renzi (AZ)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
Chris Shays (CT)
Chis Smith (NJ)
Fred Upton (MI)
Ed Whitfield (KY)
Don Young (AK)

Yesterday's CQPolitics makes a stab at explaining how the GOP political hacks-- who just a few days ago were insisting Democrats are beating them because they have stolen right-wing positions on issues-- are now trying to turn themselves into... Democrats.

Something big is missing from House Republicans’ 2008 campaign agenda for American families--   and that is no accident.

There’s not a single mention in the 47-point program of such red-meat GOP issues as banning abortion, outlawing same-sex marriage, allowing prayer in the public schools, banning flag burning and protecting the Pledge of Allegiance.

They are still tepid about backing real solutions for economic issues like health care and fair pay, but at least they are willing to talk about issues like those instead of just blatant fear-mongering and slandering their opponents. “In the past, the Republican agenda for families was about social issues. This is more straightforward, talking to families where they are, not where you want them to be,’’ explained rubber stamp Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger.

De-emphasizing issues that were Republican signatures for many years is tricky. It risks alienating the party’s base in a challenging election year when it needs loyalists to turn out. And it does so when conservative Republicans are already uneasy about their party’s presumed presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

But GOP leaders see little choice. Democrats this year won three special elections in House districts long held by Republicans. The party’s campaign unit is struggling to raise funds. And polls show a strong generic preference for Democrats this year.

One of the worst of the GOP lunatic fringe, Pennsylvania extremist Joe Pitts, says he isn't worried that the GOP will do anything more than make some cosmetic changes and that at heart, they'll always be the neo-Nazi Party he has worked so hard to turn them into. He's the fuehrer of the Republican House Values Action Team and he's just laughing at all the hubbub. "I have no assurance from the leaders about this. But I know the leaders and I know that when we come out with the whole big picture, these are all things we will stand for... The worst thing you can do in an election year is deflate your base. They won’t vote against you, they’ll just stay home.’’

Pitts said conservative voters are rallying around McCain in part because he has indicated that as president he would appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of President Bush’s conservative picks, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Conservatives feel that with one or two more like-minded justices, the high court could overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide and issue other decisions they would support.

CQPolitics interviewed Julian Zelizer, a congressional scholar at Princeton who told them that a "problem for the GOP is that social issues have been a core building block for the party for decades. De-emphasizing them now may look opportunistic to voters. "When you’re losing, people are suspicious if you change. Republicans have defined themselves on these issues for three decades. It’s much harder to divorce yourselves from them.’’ Pelosi says when she looks at the GOP scurrying to redefine themselves she sees "disarray, chaos, dissatisfaction, and uncertainty about the future."


UPDATE: BUT NOT AS INSANE AS THE BASE

Wander over to the NRCC site if you want to see something really sick. Tom Cole posted all these new ideas about how to pull the brand out of the sewer and shine her up nice'n purty. The comments from the faithful are fantastic. They are reaping what they have sewn!