The Political Civil War Rages on in Both Parties

Here's a thought. Let's look at this question strictly from political calculus. Do you think Republicans would rather that Speaker Pelosi be removed or keep her job, weakened and with little or no credibility left. I personally would pick the latter, at least as far as political advantage goes. That is at the heart of the political civil war going on the Democratic party. About three weeks ago, I wrote about the political civil war going on in both parties.

At the heart of the political civil in the Democratic party is the issue of what to do about potential prosecution of former Bush officials over so called torture techniques like waterboarding. From the beginning, the party didn't know what to do. It's most partisan faction wanted show trials through the "truth commission". The most moderate factions wanted to simply move on, while the president still hasn't figured out what he wanted.

Now that political civil war has turned into a political civil war between the powerful Speaker and the Democratic head of the CIA, Leon Panetta. Once Pelosi accused the CIA of lying, it was on. Once again, the president doesn't know what to do and isn't getting involved. Almost no one in the country believes Pelosi and so the continued presence of this debate only goes to weaken the Speaker. It weakens the president with every passing day because he refuses to take a stand.

Now, here's just how serious this particular political civil war is. Speaker Pelosi would be at the center of crafting and rainmaking any and all of President Obama's main initiatives. In other words, the Democrats are about to have a disgraced liar at the center of both health care and climate legislation.

So, let's go back to my original question. There is literally an endless and plethora methods of attacking the Democrats by tying them to Pelosi come November 2010. As long as the Speaker maintains her position of power, she will be the gift that keeps on giving for the Republicans. Furthermore, her battle with the Democratic lead CIA is just getting started. Fox News first reported on a leak in which Pelosi stopped a covert mission in 2004. This leak of course contradicts her contention that she couldn't do anything to stop the waterboarding. You can expect there to be plenty of leaks in the weeks, months, and even years to come. Every time, it will be mentioned that the CIA is lead by DEMOCRAT Leon Panetta. At this point, either the Speaker resigns in disgrace or the entire legislative agenda is threatened and at least tainted by her presence.

Now, before the Republicans go and celebrate, we must also remember they have plenty of their own problems. It appears that the conservatives smell blood in the water and they are willing to seek and destroy any moderate in their path. Take the case of the popular Florida Governor Charlie Crist. He recently announced that he would run for the Senate. Given his popularity, this should have been welcomed news. After all, his entrance meant that the seat would be kept easily and the Republicans could focus their resources on other places.

Not so. Over at Red State, the folks there have made it their mission to see that Crist gets defeated in the primary. In fact, its proprietor, Erick Erickson, has started a movement to stop funding to the National Republican Senatorial Committee because they have backed Crist. Talk about eating your own. Crist would win, and win easily...in the general election that is. That isn't good enough for the conservative base. Not only are they opposing him, but they are even encouraging a monetary boycott of the NRSC because they support Crist. I suppose the Republicans' road back to power runs right through a financial boycott of its Senatorial Committee.

This is basically the attitude that most conservatives have taken since Specter has left. They want to purge the entire party of anyone that is NOT a down the line conservative. Of course, it's one thing to have an ideological debate. The conservatives have taken it one step further. They now want to punish, financially, any Republican organ that supports anyone that isn't a down the line conservative. This includes the wildly popular Florida Governor running for Senate.

William Buckley once said that he would support the most conservative candidate that could win. It appears the conservatives would rather run and lose with all conservatives then try and win with the most conservative candidate THAT CAN WIN.