As disappointed and frustrated as he has grown with the Republican-controlled Congress, venerable conservative activist Paul Weyrich strongly supports conservatives who are doing their utmost to keep Republicans a majority this November. “Whatever the complaints against Republicans—and most are justified—Democrats can’t get control,” insists Weyrich, head of Coalitions for America. “The first thing they’ll do is start the impeachment process against President Bush.”
As far-fetched as it sounds, Weyrich is onto something in this turbulent year. At the recent Colorado Democratic convention, a resolution was passed calling on Congress to begin impeachment hearings against the President. Queried by reporters, State Rep. Angie Paccione, Democratic nominee for Congress in the Centennial State’s 4th District, said she supported the resolution.
What is happening to the Democratic Party in Colorado has been happening in many other places. It is what happened to the British Labor Party in the 1980s and ’90s before Tony Blair brought it back to some common sense from what Margaret Thatcher dubbed “the loony left,” and what moderate Labor leader Neil Kinnock denounced as “the generals of gesture” being in charge.
In challenging two-term Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, Paccione’s manifesto is typical of America’s “loony left:” She’s against the Bush tax cuts, is rabidly pro-abortion, opposes the marriage amendment that is on the state ballot this year, and backs in-state college tuition for illegal aliens.
Musgrave is a solid conservative (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 100%) and well-known as a House champion of traditional marriage. While Paccione marches in lock-step with her state and national party, Musgrave has broken with the Republican President when she feels he’s wrong. She opposed the multi-billion-dollar prescription-drug bill, the “No Child Left Behind” federal education program, and opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.
But taking such forthright stands makes any lawmaker a target of the left. Two years ago, a 527 group backed by three major donors blasted Musgrave with $2.5 million in attack media and helped hold her to only 51% of the vote. No conservative worried about the state of Republicans in Congress should ever take Musgrave’s re-election for granted.
