Call of Cthulhu

Reaganpalooza

I was going to stay out of this whole Ronnie-is-Dead-Week, especially given the fanatical neo-clown love orgy that has erupted over the media since The Gipper went to meet his Maker. But a couple of things came to my attention, and I thought they should be shared.

First, there is this scathing Salon interview with Ron Reagan Jr:

"9/11 gave the Bush people carte blanche to carry out their extreme agenda -- and they didn't hesitate for a moment to use it. I mean, by 9/12 Rumsfeld was saying, 'Let's hit Iraq.' They've used the war on terror to justify everything from tax cuts to Alaska oil drilling."

"But my father was a man -- that's the difference between him and Bush. To paraphrase Jack Palance, my father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."

Reagan says his mother shares his "distrust of some of these [Bush] people. She gets that they're trouble in all kinds of ways. She doesn't like their religious fervor, their aggression."

There's lots of good stuff in there. Do yourself a favor and go read it.


Ghouls in the White House

The next thing that came along was this:

The ads, ordered up by Bush political advisor Karl Rove immediately after Reagan's death last Saturday, use images of Reagan and excerpts from his speeches in what one angry GOP conservative describes as a "callous attempt to tie George W. Bush to the legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan."

Eeyup, those tools are already trying to use Reagan's death to pick up their sagging poll numbers. Tasteful, or...

"They're disgusting," says one long-time Republican who participated in a focus group to preview the new television ads. "They dishonor the memory of Ronald Reagan and if President Bush allows these ads on the air I, for one, will not vote for him in November."

"Ronald Reagan has achieved god-like status among conservative Republicans and you don’t mess with his memory...If they are smart they will pull the plug on the campaign and order the ads destroyed. Unfortunately, the Bush campaign has not yet impressed us with its intelligence."

I would be shocked at ShrubCo's™ ghoulish intentions, but 3½ years of their evil stupidity have left me just as under-whelmed with their intelligence. After all, these are the same goons who have replaced their own reelection website with a twisted hagiography to The Gipper; they have nothing positive to say about themselves. (I'd provide a link to the Bush/Cheney site, but I just can't bring myself to do it.)


The Coattail Effect

So is ShrubCo's™ sudden love-affair with Reagan working to their advantage? It's a little too soon to tell, but not so far:

Gallup, 060804:

The poll, conducted June 3-6, overlapped news of former President Ronald Reagan's death. Some of the results reported here could be affected by this news.

The poll finds Kerry leading Bush in the presidential contest by 49% to 44% among registered voters, and 50% to 44% among likely voters.

LA Times doesn't have a pretty graph, but does show this:

Kerry led Bush by 51% to 44% nationally in a two-way matchup, and by 48% to 42% in a three-way race, with independent Ralph Nader drawing 4%.

The real test will come after Shrub does his eulogy. If he tries to tie himself to Reagan by mentioning "war on terra®" and "freedumb® in Iraq", then expect his numbers to continue diving.