GOP Contest Prompts Yawns Outside Beltway

[hang a left]

GOP Contest Prompts Yawns Outside Beltway

By Jim VandeHei and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 20, 2006; Page A04

As some House Republicans campaign to oust their scandal-blemished GOP leadership team, they are facing an obstacle back home. It seems many voters could not care less.

In interviews, more than a dozen Republican lawmakers who are home for a long January break said constituents are talking a great deal about high gas prices and even a best-selling book about killing the Internal Revenue Service, but not much about the intrigue gripping Capitol Hill. Even many of those voters who are closely following the leadership contest or the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal reportedly tend to deride all lawmakers as money-grubbing operators, and express little faith that Congress can be cleaned up by any politician.


"I don't get the sense many people are paying attention," said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), who has been hoping party activists would lead demands for a shake-up. "Corruption is still 90 percent an inside-the-Beltway" issue.

The lack of grass-roots enthusiasm for broad changes on Capitol Hill may work to the advantage of Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), several legislators said. By most estimates, he is leading the race to become the next House majority leader -- despite his extensive connections to lobbyists, including some involved in the Abramoff scandal.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903284.html

[napi21]

1. I suspect that's probably true, until there are indictments!

Most people don't pay attention to politics like we do. I understand that. They DO however pay attention when there are indictments! THAT gets enough coverage on the local 5 o'clock news that people start to talk! If, as I suspect, all the indictments are Pubs, then we'll see a change in opinion.

[InsultComicDog]

5. It's the freaking Post

...and for whatever reason, they want to marginalize the scandal if they can't succeed in making it bipartisan.

Don't let them get away with it.

[peacetalksforall]

2. Go ahead and read the article, but it is useless because it only refers

to Republicans. It's propaganda by two pushers at the Post. What an amazing regime. It must e really nice to have the second most famous newspaper pimp for you. Turned off.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Pugs say scandals provoke yawns.

I believe that.

They also say they're more adored than ever. :eyes:

[PVK]

4. Tom Feeney ordered up Clint Curtis's vote-switching program.

Some mouthpiece HE is for reform. The biggest offenders in the GOP are the ones up front and center talking about reform. To use Scott McClellan's words, "their hypocrisy knows no bounds."

[UpInArms]

6. key words: grass roots activists

in the GOPpiggie party the only thing those "activists" know is lie and smear.

Clean up their party????

:rofl:

Hell, those folks think that anything that has a negative attached is some "librul" lie.

They haven't figured out that they don't have a party. They have a radical departure from reality.