Enough of the people

Good point by commenter GussieFN over on the dailyKos:

Listen, it's not only abortion--that's the least of it. We've all read What's the Matter With Kansas?, right? How come we always miss this shit?

This is the thing: the Taliblicans know Ms. Schiavo will be taken off the feeding tube. The ones who know anything, that is. Many of them, the non-true-believers, even understand what 'persistant vegitative state means.' They're not playing to win, they're playing to LOSE.

Why?

Because for the next ten years, the tragedy of Ms. Schiavo will be exploited to rally the troops. You think this is red meat to the base? No: it's not a carrot, it's a stick in the hands of the Taliblican commanders, they will whip the footsoldiers into a frenzy whenever they choose with Ms. Schiavo's face and story and the PRO DEATH Democrats!

Only thirty-percent say the gov't should get involved? Who cares? The hard-core activitst all live in that 30%. Those are the people who multiply their efforts. Those are the ones at the rallys and the meetings and the talk shows. You think that the feds medding in the most personal decision violates Republican principles? This isn't about Republicans--it's about those Christian Taliban activists and the people who control them. That's all. This is motivation. They will lose--and, in losing, they will win. Big.

Abraham Lincoln is famous for saying "You can fool all of the people some of the time or some of the people all of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Well, the Republican leadership understands that you don't need to you. You just need to fool enough of them enough of the time.

Even if only 30% support the Republican's actions, that 30% can translate into 50+% at the polls when you factor in motivation. Almost all of that 30% will vote in 2006. How many of the 70% will do the same?

Remember, Hitler came to power with only 30% of the vote.