RNC Memo....

This is off The Hotline on Call: The National Journal's Daily Briefing on Politics. But I have also seen this story posted on both the Daily Kos, and Shakespeare's Sister. It is an incredible memo, that really sneaks up on you.

Here is what Hotline on Call says:

Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen, in a memo written for RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, warns that if members of Congress try to drive a wedge between themselves and Pres. Bush, it'd be akin to adding weight to an anchor. GOpers are "W Brand Republicans" whether they like it or not. And van Louhizen, who has polled (often secretly) for the Bush White House under the RNC aegis for years, is worried about low turnout.

So apparently this Republican pollster van Lohuizen is warning RNC chairman Ken Mehlman that if the Republican members of Congress try to distance themselves from President Bush, then those Republican congressmen could sink within the polls, and perhaps cause the Republican Party to lose control of Congress this November (the "adding weight to an anchor). Van Lohuizen then claims that GOP members are "W Brand Republicans!" Finally van Lohuizen is worried that a low voter turnout among Republicans could also cause control of Congress to be shifted towards the Democratic Party--especially now that the Democrats are focusing on energizing their own base.

Now here is the actual memo, per Hotline On Call:

Memorandum

To: Ken Mehlman
From: Jan van Lohuizen
Date: March 3, 2006
Re: Bush -- Congressional Republicans

Per our conversation, we took another look at the way voters, Republicans specifically, link President Bush and Republicans in the House and the Senate. There are several points worth making:

1. President Bush continues to have the strong loyal support of Republican voters. Despite slippage in approval ratings among all voters, the President's job approval among Republicans continues to be very high. Most members will be elected with between 80% and 100% of their support coming from Republicans. I don't see that Republicans driving a wedge between themselves and the President is a good election strategy.

2. My read of the current environment is that our problem will be turnout. '06 could become an election like '82 or '84. In '82 Republicans showed up at relatively normal turnout rates, while Democrats, because they were angry, showed up at abnormally high turnout rates. In '94, Republican turnout was elevated, while Democratic turnout was depressed. We have every reason to believe '06 could become the inverse of '82. We don't see signs of a depressed Republican turnout yet, but we have every reason to believe Democrats will turn out in high numbers. Anything we do to depress turnout, by not running as a unified party for instance, could very well lead to serious consequences in November.

3. The President is seen universally as the face of the Republican Party. We are now brand W. Republicans. The following chart shows the extremely close correlation between the President’s image and overall ratings of the party.

President Bush drives our image and will do so until we have real national front-runners for the '08 nomination. Attacking the President is counter productive for all Republicans, not just the candidates launching the attacks. If he drops, we all drop.

Bold emphasis in the memo is mine.

When I read this memo, I just have to shake my head. Van Lohuizen's analysis regarding the president's dropping poll numbers, and the dangers that the Republican Party currently faces is correct--but it is correct for the wrong reasons! President Bush is seen as the face of the Republican Party, because the president has governed this country from a neoconservative position. President Bush has governed as a divider within this country--you're either with us, or you're with the terrorists! And as political events have spiraled beyond the White House spin-meister control, President Bush's job performance polls have plummeted. Pretty much the only support that Bush has is the neoconservative and the religious right wing-nuts, but how many of them are going to continue to support him as the war in Iraq continues to go badly for the United States? We are now brand W. Republicans? The Republicans in Congress allowed themselves to be branded W. Republicans. They placed their loyalties to the Republican Party above everything else--including their state's constituents, their country, and the Constitution!. The Republican Congressional leaders refused to investigate any of the scandals that have come out of the White House--misuse of Iraqi WMD intelligence, Valerie Plame, the neocon connection in marketing the Iraq war, Katrina, the illegal domestic spying on Americans by the NSA. Now that these scandals have been publicized, the political damage is hurting not only the White House, but also those same Republican congressmen who decided that party loyalty was more important than their country. And van Lohuizen is worried that the Republican congressmen will try to drive a wedge between themselves and the president? Of course the Republican congressmen are going to drive a wedge between themselves and the president--their own political lives depend upon it! The closer these Republicans congressmen have been to the president, the more damaging the president will be towards their political futures--just look at the the Pennsylvania Senate race, where the number three Republican in Congress, Rich Santorum, is fighting to keep his seat. Van Lohuizen may not like the Republicans attacking the president, but there is not much he can do about it.

Finally, there is this wonderful concluding paragraph:

President Bush drives our image and will do so until we have real national front-runners for the '08 nomination. Attacking the President is counter productive for all Republicans, not just the candidates launching the attacks. If he drops, we all drop.

President Bush drives our image and will do so until we have real national front-runners for the '08 nomination. Van Lohuizen is certainly trying to place a positive spin for this memo. There are serious problems that affect this country--the disastrous war in Iraq is the biggest problem that the Bush administration faces, and they still have no clue as to how to resolve this war, with the exception of stating empty slogans on "Staying the course," or a "Pathway to Victory." But there are economic problems of the budget deficit, the $8 trillion national debt that has been incurred, the health care crisis, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, immigration, job outsourcing. These are all problems that the Bush White House has also failed to resolve, and these problems will only grow in stature, once the candidates start canvassing for the Iowa caucus votes. Even more, if the Democrats do regain control of Congress in November, they are certainly going to start the investigations into the past five years of the Bush administration's scandals. You can bet that any serious revelations into these Bush White House scandals is going to really hurt the Republican Party, perhaps even cost them the White House in '08. What van Lohuizen, and perhaps even Ken Mehlman, don't even realize is that they have aligned the Republican Party behind George Bush's failed domestic and foreign policies. They have forced the Republican Party to submit to complete loyalty for President Bush--for both the early good times, and the current bad times. There is no one to blame, but themselves, for demanding such a lock-step party unity among all of its members--for not allowing any type of dissention or debate on the issues. And now that these failed policies are sinking the Bush White House, they are also causing the Republican Party to sink as well.