Can They Eke Out A Win With This Tired Junk?

Go for Wedge Issues, Gingrich Tells Lawmakers


One GOP lawmaker told The Hill that Gingrich encouraged Republicans to pick issues such as school prayer, strengthening work requirements for welfare recipients and barring the United Nations from monitoring U.S. elections, which all polled at higher than an 80 percent rating.

“There’s a consensus developing among activists that new issues are emerging where [the polling] is decidedly with us,” the lawmaker said. “We can show a contrast.”

Gingrich spelled out his views at a meeting last week organized by House GOP Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), the fourth-ranking member of the GOP House leadership.

Lawmakers who attended Wednesday’s session expressed excitement about Gingrich’s policy proposals and political tactics.

Rep. Phil English, a Republican who represents Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s old district in northwestern Pennsylvania, said: “It is extremely useful in depicting Kerry’s position on the political spectrum to raise issues like welfare reform where he’s been on the far-left extreme.”

He added, “We have a very good wedge issue. … It’s worth asking why he is part of a rear-guard action blocking the permanency of welfare reform. Is he not out of touch with cultural issues of the rest of the country?”


Luckily, they have William Schneider on CNN today warning everybody that there's some "bad news" about Kerry.

SCHNEIDER: The other polls that we've seen nationally, all of them show Kerry slightly ahead, all within the margin of error. This is the first poll we've seen in some time that shows Bush even slightly ahead. Again, within the margin of error. This could be bad news for John Kerry. The first bad news, because it seems to suggest that all that money that Bush has spent on negative advertising, some of those points are sinking in and voters are paying attention to Kerry, knowing that he's going to get the nomination, and beginning to say, wait a minute, is this guy really a flip-flopper, is he really a Massachusetts liberal? This could be bad news.

WOODRUFF: We'll continue to see the other polls that come out. We always look at a collection of them and see what they mirror...

SCHNEIDER: This is an outliner right now, but the question is, will this be the beginning of bad news?


Gosh, what's he talking about? Is there some bad news about Kerry? Is he a flip-flopping liberal who loves cross dressing welfare queens? There's must be something wrong...