A growing number of conservatives have been defecting from the Bush Admin.'s official party line on the war in Iraq. Andrew Sullivan (already opposed to their stance on gay marriage) has been opposed since nearly the offset, ultra-right loon Pat Buchanan has spoken against the war, and now even the ultimate in unctuous toadying, misogynistic and homophobic Ken doll Tucker Carlson has labeled the war a total disaster and a nightmare and recanted his views.
Do you think that any of these people will actually have the cajones to vote their conscience? Do you think there will be a rift in the conservative faction? If enough conservatives desert, do you think that the Bush Administration will begin to withdraw? Your thoughts please.
Iraq already has split the conservatives. Look at the most recent polls. If the vote were tomorrow Bush would be gone. The Democrats couldn’t do that all by themselves.
Conservatives might be split on a number of issues.
Gay Marriage
Civil Liberties - There’s both libertarian and fundamentalist x-ian veins in the Republican party.
Spending
War in Iraq
Nevertheless, Bush is a strong focal point for conservative ideology in the national mindset. Bush has decisiveness and a vision, even if conservatives debate about what to do. There’s a diversity of opinions on the right, but Bush’s decisiveness tends to conceal this to the general public. Also, while the right’s mouthpieces like O’Reilly etc have there own takes, criticism of the Administration is light. After 9-11 I think there’s a feeling, especially among conservatives, that backing the President’s choices is a necesity to combating terrorism, and that serious dissent from the chosen course of action is looked down upon.