George Who..?

Once Boon, Ties to Bush May Be Bust a Move
"Republicans around the country are openly debating how to distance themselves from voters' dissatisfaction with Mr. Bush and the war, but without further tarnishing their party and its public face in the process."

"Standing too close to an unpopular president or stepping away too far each have political risks. In a recent memorandum written for the Republican Party's chairman, Ken Mehlman, the pollster Jan van Lohuizen argued to Republican incumbents that trying to "drive a wedge" between themselves and the president would backfire by hurting their own image as Republicans."

"The president is seen universally as the face of the Republican Party," Mr. van Lohuizen wrote, according to a copy reproduced by the Web site of National Journal. "We are now Brand W. Republicans." [full story]

posted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald at 4/25/2006