2008 is not a good year to be a Republican running for office. Even the Republican leadership is saying that if the "Republican brand were dogfood, it would be taken off the shelf."
Now, one of President Bush's most dependable allies -- Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in South Florida (FL-18) -- is doing everything she can to run from failed policies and failed leadership in Washington.
On Tuesday, The Miami Herald wrote that "out of the blue," Ros-Lehtinen issued two press releases that sought to distance herself from a long, devoted history of supporting Bush. The Herald said she was interested in "debunking any perception that the generally reliably Republican is a 'rubber stamp'' for President Bush."
Rubber stamp. Interesting choice of words, since Ros-Lehtinen votes with Bush 85% of the time. She helped him to authorize the Iraq War Resolution. She cast the deciding vote against granting Medicare the authority to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. She supported his drive to privatize Social Security. She even voted five times against expanding S-CHIP.
But as Joe Sudbay from AmericaBlog noted, "if you have to say you're not a 'rubber stamp,' it's too late."
(AmericaBlog was also generous enough to set up an ACTBlue page for Taddeo for Congress.
2008 is too late to start distancing yourself from George Bush. You can't spin away a record of support for war, deficits, and votes against health care.
Florida is a key battleground, not only because of our 27 electoral votes, but because of the competitive Congressional races all across the state. South Florida especially is changing, and what we do here will reverberate throughout the country. Help us change the face of the District and bring new leadership to Washington.
Ros-Lehtinen votes with Bush 85% of the time. She's going to try to run from her record.
Let's not let her.