Letter: Elections will leave GOP feeling blue

Monday, Aug. 14, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

Peter Sams, in his Aug. 11 letter to the editor, claims that the Democrats' lean to the left will lead to their ultimate demise in the mid-term elections.

He notes the Democrats' "most recent loss in the very blue state of California for the vacant Republican seat once held by Rep. Duke Cunningham, a race they thought was a sure thing."

If Mr. Sams truly knew what he was talking about, he would realize that the 51st Congressional District is probably the reddest district in one of the reddest counties (San Diego) in California, with 44 percent of its voters registered Republican and 30 percent Democrat. Yet, despite that numerical superiority, the winning Republican (Brian Bilbray) defeated his Democratic opponent (Francine Busby) by fewer than 5,000 votes. Bilbray also won with less than a majority (49 percent of ballots cast). Mr. Sams, what does that tell you about the electorate's comfort with the right wing, when the GOP can barely hold a "safe" district?

As for the recent Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut, Joe Lieberman lost largely because of his unwavering support for George Bush's failed war in Iraq, among other miserable GOP and administration policies that Lieberman has backed unflinchingly. What his loss shows is that Democrats are primed to take back first their party, then their country, from an ideological majority that has drifted way too far to the right (and onward into scandal and/or jail - see Duke Cunningham, Tom DeLay, et al.).

If anything, Mr. Sams should be worried more about how these factors will affect Republican fortunes in the fall rather than what it means for Democrats. As it stands, the GOP has a lot more to lose - and likely will.

Tom Bradley Jr., Henderson