Centerfield

This schism is one that the GOP is used to dealing with and patching over as necessary. What the GOP has done by intervening is simply to make Schiavo even more of a cause celebre.

I suspect that there are some or even many in the GOP who went along with this for cynical reasons, not philosophical reasons. It's good GOP party politics to stand up heroically for "the culture of life," especially if you have a legal background and understand that the outcome is extremely unlikely to be affected by johnny-come-lately grandstanding.

Making the issue more splashy thus has 2 upside factors for the GOP, and no practical downsides. The upsides are
1-heroically do the bidding of social conservatives
2-give the social conservatives a more famous martyr

The weeping and wailing about Terry Schiavo will not end when her body finally fails completely. She is passing into the mythology of the social conservatves even as we speak.

I think that someday there will be an issue that makes the rift between social conservatives and fiscally hawkish libertarian conservatives a gap too great to bridge. But I don't think this is it. Especially not under circumstances when the whole party is sticky with wartime togetherness glue.

BK is correct...this is nothing new to the GOP. They have been walking this tightrope for quite some time. At some point, someone will lose their balance.

I posted an article on my blog about the turmoil in the Florida Senate. "Pro-lifers" have stormed committee hearings, plastered WANTED posters around the capitol, threatened lives, and even expressed the wish that at least one Republican state senator would get stomach cancer. In Florida, moderate Republicans have managed to pretty much control the Florida Senate, although they have occasionally given in to the right to keep the peace. If anything, their experiences here will cement their desire to hold fast to reason and thumb their noses at the right wing.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/11205675.htm

I don't see any fault lines, just an orgy of political back scratching and an exchange of favors, all with a plethora of upsides. After this quixotic charge by congress and the president you couldn't pry the religious right away from the Republican Party with dynamite.

As disgusting as this has gotten it definitely is a win for the "culture of life".
If they win in the courts then Jesus has triumphed over Satan.
It they lose it just reinforces a very deep cultural belief that Christianity is being oppressed and discriminated against.

As an added bonus the furor distracts attention from Tom Delay's ethical and legal missteps while ingratiating him to the religious right.

The GOP is annoying some of their base, and alienating much of the middle. The "States righters" GOP are not happy. The Moderate/centrist factions are also not happy. Letting Randall Terry back in by the front door is Very Much Not Smart.

A quick rove through the righty blogs tells me that even those who think it's a mistake to send Schiavo off this earth without just one more review think that Cogress over-stepped big-time, and shoulda stayed out of it.

The more mainstream Dems are mostly staying hands-off and laying low, one of their wiser decisions of late. The alternative is to be seen as cheering on the death of an innocent.

And in the end the courts are going to do nothing. It's been adjudicated and re-adjudicated, over almost eight years, and the decision is not going to change. Congress can blather, but the courts decide, and they're not wild about gainsaying their own to make Congress happy.

I'm not so sure that this isn't the issue that will be the proverbial straw breaking the camels back.

As a social liberal, I have bit my tongue many times when the Republicans have pandered to the religious right. I have always known that a certain amount of pandering, whether serious or not, was to be expected. It was ok, because I felt that between the two major parties, the Republicans were the better choice and I know some compromise has to be expected when voting.

However, this whole Schiavo mess and the gross abuse of power by Republicans in congress have completely changed my feelings.
I honestly don’t think I can, in good conscience, vote for a religious, right leaning Republican again. Which leaves me quite lost, as I don’t know if I can find a Democrat I could vote for. Third party please!

The lies, vitriol, and slander coming largely from the right, often coming from people whom I have respected and agreed with over the years, has made me look at the Republican party in a whole new light.
I removed 5 blogs from my favorites this week, because I can no longer tolerate the disgusting behavior of the posters. The ignorance, lies and hypocrisy just astounds me.

How will I feel next year come midterm elections, or in 2008? I don’t know. I just know that right now the Republican party, in general, makes me sick to my stomach. Frankly, I feel like need about a thousand showers to get rid of this dirty, greasy feeling I have for ever having taken these people seriously.

"Letting Randall Terry back in by the front door is Very Much Not Smart. "

Boy if that isn't the understatement of the millennium.

Thought I'd just share an interesting tidbit about good 'ole Randall. Randall lives a stone's throw from my office. Most Ponte Vedra residents are none to pleased to have him firmly ensconsed in his corporately-owned-million-dollar home. In the midst of the Terri Schiavo turmoil, he decided that he needed a seat on his homeowner's association. This may be a very conservative (although extremely wealthy) community, but no one has a desire to promote such a hatemonger to a position of authority here--he was handidly defeated.

I did not know Randall lived in Ponte Vedra. I live in St. Johns County - too close for comfort.
I'm glad to hear he was defeated.
I always thought we North Floridians were a sensible lot.

I've at times wondered why the mainline Republicans didn't just say "Hey you Religious Right, who else you gonna vote for?" and then just take them for granted. My hunch why they don't do that; good likelihood they would "just take their ball home" by creating a third party of Christian conservative and run them (even though they would have little chance of winning anything). So unless there is significant alienation by the center and left of the Party (and/or fewer independants voting Republican) this is not likely to occur. Or is it?

Isn't it strange to be discussing this given all the discussion by the Democratic Party on how it should try to better understand the Church goers of the country. (And I do think that's a good idea for the Democratic Party because there are a lot of church goers who do not want to follow the lead of the Far Religious Right)

I think the reason the GOP can't take the right for granted is that they know a lot of them aren't all that solid on other Republican issues. If it wasn't for the culture issues, a lot of the religious conservatives might vote Democratic. There is nothing better to secure your leverage than the knowledge that you can and will leave.

It's pretty clear that religious conservatives don't represent a majority of the US population (although they might in parts of the South). But their willingness to stake it all on particular issues makes it difficult for more diffuse groups to beat them.

To go back to a theme I have mentioned before, I think Bush has managed to have it both ways. He has pretty much convinced the religious conservatives he is one of them while at the same time doing just enough to make less rabid supporters say that, well, he isn't really THAT conservative.

I have first-hand acquaintance with Mr. Terry and his mob. Sending him out in public with a GOP label is like letting Fidel speak for the DNC.