Republicans have a growing sense of gloom and doom about the unpopular Bush presidency and its damage to their party, reportsBloomberg News.
Witness the 11 GOP House members who confronted Bush in the Oval Office last week to tell him he had lost credibility on the Iraq war. Many party stalwarts are going public with their worries.
"The country doesn’t believe George W. Bush, it doesn’t trust him, and with 19 months to go it’s only going to get worse," said Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist who ran Ronald Reagan’s 1984 presidential campaign. "There is nothing the president can do to get his (poll) numbers back up."
That’s a dark cloud hanging over the GOP presidential field.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Katie Couric has not helped CBS News’ ratings, the New York Times reported. It’s still in third place, and ratings continue to dwindle. CBS producers had hoped that Couric, as well as a spiffed-up broadcast, would attract younger viewers. Though it did draw in younger women, her sunny, morning-show disposition hasn’t drawn many traditional hard-news lovers.
But speculation over whether a woman delivering the news has stunted ratings is laughable and sounds like something from "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
It’s not that Couric is a woman; it’s that she isn’t the right woman for the job.
Posted by Andie Clum
Wondering how Sam Brownback has time to run for president and be Kansas’ senior senator? Any day now, Kansans may fairly conclude that he doesn’t. According to a Washington Post database, as of Thursday afternoon Brownback had missed 52 of 172 total votes this year, or 30.2 percent. Brownback’s AWOL record was surpassed only by Arizona’s John McCain, who had missed 85 votes, and South Dakota’s Tim Johnson, still recovering from a December brain hemorrhage.
A presidential campaign takes time, you say? Then explain why Illinois’ Barack Obama had missed only 11 votes this year (two more than Kansas’ Pat Roberts) and New York’s Hillary Clinton only three. And the ‘08 race has just begun.
Brownback owes Kansas more time at work — or he owes taxpayers a refund.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
A new state audit gives fuel to Republicans’ contention that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ reputation as a waste cutter is overblown. When she disbanded the state motor pool in 2003, put a two-year moratorium on new car purchases and sold off 800 vehicles, the state did save $24.5 million. But thanks to car rentals and costly gas, the state now spends nearly as much on vehicles — $37.3 million last year — as it did before her carganza, $37.5 million in 2003.
“Renting is the least affordable option. We sold off the assets, took the cash, and now we’re paying for it,” state Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, told the Kansas City Star.
But Sebelius said again this week that her car cutback was “one of the cornerstones of our cost savings effort.” And at the time, the state really needed the money.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Once again, a celebrity catches a break in the courtroom. Less than two weeks after a California judge sentenced Paris Hilton to 45 days in county jail for violating her probation, both the amount of time and the place where she’ll be spending it have changed. Due to good behavior, her sentencing has been reduced to 23 days in a special unit designed for police officers, public officials, celebrities and high-profile prisoners.
Hilton’s mother said she hoped people who looked up to Paris could learn from this. Unfortunately, all many kids will learn is that you can indeed buy a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Posted by Andie Clum
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
GOP HOPEFULS CLASH OVER WHO IS THE WHITEST; Court Elusive White Male Voter in Televised Face-off
GIULIANI CHALLENGES HIMSELF TO DEBATE; Hopes to Clarify Position on Abortion
WOLFOWITZ’S GIRLFRIEND RESIGNS AS WOLFOWITZ’S GIRLFRIEND; Relinquishes Girlfriend Post ‘Effective Immediately’
FRANCE FAILS TO ELECT HOTTEST PRESIDENT EVER; Millions of Frenchmen Furious
WHITE HOUSE SEEKS LYING CZAR; Would Coordinate Distortions About Iraq, Afghanistan
BUSH POSTPONES THINKING ABOUT IRAQ UNTIL 2009; Says Thinking Would Send ‘Wrong Message’ to Enemy
U.S. SENDS RICH LITTLE TO IRAQ TO ENTERTAIN INSURGENTS; Pentagon Hopes to Confuse the Enemy
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
