Nice segue to WP article by Dan Balz

[link|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401475.html?sub=AR|For GOP, Deeper Fissures and a Looming Power Struggle]:

The fallout from the Senate compromise that averted a showdown over judicial filibusters fell most heavily on the Republican Party yesterday, signaling intraparty warfare that is likely to shape the battle for the party's 2008 presidential nomination and further strain the unity the GOP has enjoyed under President Bush.

Monday's surprise deal left two of the party's most prominent potential 2008 candidates, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), on opposite sides of an ideological and strategic divide that is likely to widen as the party begins in earnest to hunt for a successor to Bush. Perhaps mindful of the power of social and religious conservatives, other GOP senators with presidential aspirations, including George Allen (Va.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.), condemned the deal.

[...]

But Frist's inability or unwillingness to strike a deal with Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the Senate Democratic leader, empowered McCain and his allies to seize control of the debate. The body language of the two GOP senators -- McCain ebullient in announcing the deal, and Frist taut and drawn in interpreting it moments later on the Senate floor -- spoke volumes about the immediate reading of who won and who lost.

[...]

We'll have to see how it turns out, but at the moment it looks like a defeat for Frist and a victory for moderates like Warner and McCain.

Cheers,
Scott.

[link|http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/archive.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/05/25/poll/index.html| Salon].

In the polls

Connecticut's Quinnipiac University released a [link|http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11385.xml?ReleaseID=738| new poll] this morning surveying Americans' attitudes on abortion, the filibuster fight, and the Bush presidency. The numbers don't look great for the right wing or the White House.

By 63 to 33 percent, Americans support the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, with men supporting it at a higher rate (68 to 28 percent) than women (58 to 37 percent).

For all the rhetoric from the religious right about "outrage" over the filibuster compromise, the poll revealed that opinions about the nuclear option divided along party lines, with Republicans against the filibuster 48 to 39 percent, and Democrats supporting its use by 70 to 23 percent. Independent voters, meanwhile, backed the use of the filibuster by a margin of 54 to 39 percent.

"While the filibuster fight ended in a truce, most American voters were backing the Democrats on this one," said Maurice Carroll, Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. "If this fight were really about Roe v. Wade, Quinnipiac University polls have shown a consistent 2 -1 support for this historic ruling, with more support from men."

The poll saves its worst news for the president, with 50 percent of Americans disapproving of Bush's job performance. This confirms [link|http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/05/24/bush_polls/index.html| other recent polls] that found the president's job approval at an all-time low.

-- Julia Scott

[13:47 EDT, May 25, 2005]

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