The success in derailing — for the time being — John Bolton’s nomination to be U.N. ambassador is a stunning success on a variety of levels, but there was one line in today’s LA Times that really stood out.
The paper quoted a Republican strategist — who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of discussing intraparty divisions — saying that GOP moderates in the Senate caucus are “starting to stand up and be counted — and to rebel.” The advisor added that the centrists are “uneasy with the party’s close ties to religious activists” and are “tired of being strong-armed.”
This may prove to be the most important development of the 109th Congress. In Bush’s first term, the handful of Republican moderates left usually got rolled over fairly easily. With expanded GOP majorities after the 2004 election, most assumed centrists would have even less say in the direction of the agenda because party leaders, who’ve never cared for negotiating with moderates anyway, would have more far-right lawmakers to rely on.
But if this quote is right, and the centrists really are “tired of being strong-armed” and uncomfortable with the fact that the party is driven by the demands of the religious right, then the rest of the Republican agenda is on shaky ground. Indeed, the GOP divisions that have always lurked just below the surface will be front-and-center the more the middle tells Frist, DeLay, and Hastert that they’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take in anymore.
Post Script: There’s one side problem, however, with the anonymous “strong-armed” quote. If you go to the LAT website, it’s not in the article — but it was in the article in the Times’ early edition. In fact, if you search for the phrase on Google News, you’ll see that the original story ran with the quote intact. I have no idea why it was taken out of the article, but rest assured, it was there.