Demagogue

That's my reaction to this LA Times article, which features the following whiny gems:

James Dobson said that, come Election Day: "voters will remember both Democrats and Republicans who betrayed their trust."

CWA's top lobbyist said: "Unfortunately, 14 senators are allowed to speak for all of America, and they're able to pick and choose the nominees they find acceptable."

and good old Lou Sheldon gave the color commentary:

The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman and founder of the Traditional Values Coalition, said he was sitting with several conservative senators and a dozen Republican House members at the Capitol Hill Club when they learned of the agreement.

"I tell you, you would have thought that the World Series had been forfeited for some dumb reason," Sheldon said. "They slapped their hands against their heads and cried out. They couldn't believe that this was the agreement."

....Of the seven Republicans who signed the compromise agreement, Sheldon said: "They didn't have the backbone and the fortitude to stand up for the fact that we are the majority."

Not only will the American public find you unappealing, but we're likely to see more stories like this one: Business Groups Tire of GOP Focus On Social Issues. Unfortunately this is the one filibuster-related article in today's Washington Post that you're unlikely to come across since it's on the Business page.

Early in the second Bush term, business groups appeared ready to join social conservatives in the battle over Bush's judges. "We have every right to participate in the nomination process," NAM President Engler told Washington Post writers and editors in January. "Our interest is even keener than that of the White House on this issue."

But since then, it has become clear the judicial showdown could doom initiatives on taxes, legal liability protections, Social Security and other priorities. Last week, NAM spokesman Darren McKinney said not only would the group stay out of the fight, but "we hope that leveler heads prevail" before the confrontation virtually shuts down the Senate.

Mark A. Bloomfield, whose business-backed American Council for Capital Formation pushes for lower taxes on savings, investment and inheritances, said the business community is no longer the GOP's base. (emphasis mine)

Pretty strong words. And the best quote is at the end:

Since the election, Washington Republicans resemble the German military during World War I, opening new fronts before old battles are resolved, said John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. and a former top GOP economist for the Senate Banking Committee and the Joint Economic Committee. One week it's Social Security, the next week it's Schiavo, then steroids, then judges, he said.

"It's an unbalanced domestic agenda," Silvia said. "If you're going to go to the wall on one particular issue, you're telling me you're going to sacrifice other issues, and history is full of stories of battles won at the cost of missing issues that have lost the war."