Letters to the Editor
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Defection Is the Smartest Strategy Availabble To Them
Though I think it's unlikely they'll ultimately pull the trigger, a formal defection from the Republican Party wouldn't be an act of desperation or petulance, but the smartest long-term poltiical strategy available to them under the circumstances. Though the leaders of the "values voters" set are a loathsome pack of religious fanatics and unabashed hypocrites, they aren't stupid. They are fully aware that not only does Giuliani have no chance of becoming president, but that the Republicans are about to be on the ass-end of the most stunning electoral repudiation delivered by the American public in a generation. Quite simply, they want to make sure they're the first horde of rats with a clear path off the ship before it disappears under the waves. Sure, it'll be ugly, but at least it will give them a fig leaf with which to conceal the full scope of their political toxicity and impotence when the election is ultimately lost.
If only we were smart enough to learn from their example! Would that Move On and other liberal groups were to convene and threaten a defection from the Democratic Party because of its ongoing refusal to challenge Bush on FISA, rendition, and the rest of his campaign to turn the U.S. Constitution into a roll of toliet paper. That's precisely what it would take to rid the party of its filthy collaborators, and get them to stop sticking their knives in our backs every time an opportunity to make a real difference arises.