America is shifting leftward  

It is always dangerous to generalize about ideological trends among the American electorate, since it will always lean right on certain issues (like defense, terrorism and taxes) and hew to the left on others (like healthcare, education, poverty and the environment). But the data are becoming overwhelming that the nation is moving left and is likely to stay that way through at least the 2006 election — and, if President Bush doesn’t adjust, for a lot longer.

The evidence is clear: The generic party ballot for Congress, for example, has now swollen to a 13-point Democratic edge while Bush’s job approval hangs in the 40s and his advisers are relieved that it is no longer a lot lower.

Why the leftward move?

A big part of the reason is the success the Bush administration has had in solving and hence diminishing the importance of the Republican agenda. Taxes have been cut, we have not had a terror attack since Sept. 11 and trial lawyers are on the defensive. The issues that remain — energy, environment, healthcare and Social Security — usually are Democratic and liberal.

The drip-drip-drip of Iraqi casualties isn’t helping Bush any, and Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) has done more to hurt the GOP than any Democrat has, but the fundamental reason for the liberal drift is the salience of issues normally identified with the left. To reverse the situation, therefore, Bush has three options:

(A) Fight the Democrats on issues that are already in play but have a Republican skew.

(B) Raise new issues that have a built-in skew right and a Republican orientation.

(C) Recast Republican positions on Democratic issues that are already in play to make them work for the GOP.

The Democrats are helping Bush mightily by their vitriolic response to reports of National Security Agency wiretapping and their opposition to the Patriot Act renewal. Since we have not had a terror attack in four and a half years, the homeland-security issue, the mother of all Republican issues, would seem likely to fade into the background. But by beating Bush over the head for his efforts to keep America safe, the liberals are helping Bush, raising the salience of one of his core issues. In his State of the Union speech, Bush should spend considerable time taking them to task on these grounds, since it will help him enormously.

Two new solid Republican issues are begging for attention from the White House: immigration and drugs.

The administration’s guest-worker program is a good step in the right direction to appease Hispanic voters, but it must be accompanied by some red meat for the base — the border fence passed by the House. The fence without guest-worker rights will alienate the fastest growing bloc of voters, the Latinos. The guest workers without the fence will do nothing to move voters toward the GOP.

As the victory of Evo Morales in Bolivia makes clear, cocaine is concomitant of oil in fueling terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. The narcoterrorists use our dependence on black oil and white cocaine to power their anti-American work and terrorist activities. Soon their terror will spread to our shores. Already the cocaine infects our young.

Bush should urge drug testing, with parental consent, in schools in his State of the Union address and put drugs back in play as a domestic issue. Crime is down, but drug use is still a vital Republican issue. Put it back on the agenda.

Finally, the Republican Party had better consign itself to defeat in the next two elections unless it does more to elaborate an energy/environmental policy. It must go beyond nuclear power and Alaska drilling in policies to achieve more energy independence.

Terrorism and pump prices have made this issue the dominant one in our political matrix. Bush needs to make hydrogen and hybrid cars a key part of his program and needs to challenge America to switch and end our dependence on imported oil.

On the environment, Americans have already decided that global warming is causing weather aberrations like the hurricane activity this summer. The administration can no longer keep its head in the sand on this issue. More than any other subject, this area of Bush blindness is making America Democratic.

Bush has to decide if he is willing to preside over the diminution of the Republican Party so that the nation embraces Democrats for the ensuing eight years, just as his father did. Those are the stakes.

Dick Morris is right about with about the same frequency as a coin flip… last year he predicted the political death of the Democratic Party.

I also bet he drives a pt cruiser

When was this article written?

It was published in the HillNews just this morning.

HH

Dick Morris?  Rhymes with Chuck Norris!

Quoted: America is shifting leftward   The administration’s guest-worker program is a good step in the right direction to appease Hispanic voters, but it must be accompanied by some red meat for the base — the border fence passed by the House. The fence without guest-worker rights will alienate the fastest growing bloc of voters, the Latinos. The guest workers without the fence will do nothing to move voters toward the GOP.

I struggle with the quote "Appease Hispanic voters."
Chicanos do not vote GOP. Never have never will. Piss on appeasement!

Morris has a political talent none here possess. I will take note of what he says and remember come election night.

Hopefully, he will be wrong. Or, perhaps, our Republicans friends can show they are doing good for the country and remain a majority.

The administration’s guest-worker program is a good step in the right direction to appease Hispanic voters, but it must be accompanied by some red meat for the base — the border fence passed by the House. The fence without guest-worker rights will alienate the fastest growing bloc of voters, the Latinos. The guest workers without the fence will do nothing to move voters toward the GOP.

If we have a real border fence and enforce our existing immigration laws, the Hispanic vote will shrink away into irrelevance as all of the illegals become unemployed and move back or are arrested and deported.

I think that Dick is otherwise pretty spot on about the voter shifting to the Left. Not that it has much to do with reality. If you notice the issues, most of them are unrealistic issues of perception. Like the global warming crap. I know that if the earth is warming that we can't do anything about it. You know it too. So for Bush to do anything about it is just feeding misperceptions. I think that rather than catering to the misperceptions, Bush needs to introduce people to reality.

He has a very interesting perspective because of his ties with the Klintons.  I do believe he's one of the good guys.

-K

Dick Morris predicted Kerry would win the night before the election. He's wrong alot.

I do worry about it though. I think the demoncraps are gaining ground with their attack campaign after five years of it. If they get the house we're screwed. We'll end up with a new AWB.

Make sure you get everyone you know that is a republican gun owner out to the polls. Our only hope is a high turnout by our kind. Gun owners will make the difference once again.

Quoted: Morris has a political talent none here possess. I will take note of what he says and remember come election night. Hopefully, he will be wrong. Or, perhaps, our Republicans friends can show they are doing good for the country and remain a majority.

No... Morris is the political equal of a fortune teller his prediction are very flexible.

Seriously go back and look at how many predictions he has made on both side of the same issues over that last few years… you cannot help but be right when you predict every possible out come.

Take last years election for example where at different points he picked both candidates and earlier last year when he predicted coming disaster for the Democrats.

Quoted: He has a very interesting perspective because of his ties with the Klintons.  I do believe he's one of the good guys. -K

Good guy… I would not turn my back on him if he were my brother… he is a snake.

Morris seems to favor whoever's currently leading the polls. Clinton's poll-driven leadership was no coincidence.

Everything that I have ever seen from Dick Morris is that he is usually spot on........I don't remember him ever calling for a Kerry victory, but I do remember alot of other things he said around the elections........he predicted that the dems were underestimating the effect of the right putting the gay marriage issue on so many states ballots......and he was correct..........he was the first that I remember to say that the swift boat bets would have a huge impact on Kerry's favorable rating.....and they did.........and he predicted that we would see a big shift in the hispanic vote towards republicans....
He might have been in the Clinton camp for a long time, but the more I listen to him the more I like him and the more I feel he leans to the right a lot more than most people realize.....