Andy Card, Meet Charles Bakaly!
...and Welcome to the GOP Fall Guys Club
PLUS! Ask not for whom the polls toll...
by Tamara Baker

Feb. 7, 2001 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- Once again I interrupt my usual writing schedule to bring you up to speed on the latest membership drive of the GOP Fall Guys Club.

Seems that yesterday, Andy Card, part of the inner circle of the Illegal Junta currently squatting in the White House, told USA Today that the Cadre planned to drop the Clinton-created offices on AIDS and on race relations in this country.

No sooner had the words hit print than a firestorm of criticism, much of it apparently from moderate gay-friendly Republicans, caused the Junta to send out Ari Fleischer to say that this was all just a mix-up on Andy Card's part.

This reminds me of how Charles Bakaly of the Office of Independent Counsel got hung out to dry by Kenny Starr for Starr's own cock-up regarding their plan to indict a sitting President.  I reported on that story in APJ back in February of 1999.  What is it about the month of February that causes the GOP to lose their collective marbles?

The pertinent part of the second story, the reversal story, is the very last sentence: "Fleischer could not explain why Card had made the mistake."

Just as with Bakaly, I strongly suspect that it really wasn't a "mistake" -- they really did plan on shutting down those offices, but so many of their own people smacked them upside their collective heads over it that they're going to let Card take the fall for it.

My question: I wonder if Cheney will use this to liquidate Card, who is one of the few people standing between Cheney and total de facto control of the White House?

And speaking of fall guys, guess what else is falling? My last article talked of how the CBS polls from mid-January were the catalyst that caused the GOP to launch a ton of new FauxGates against Bill Clinton.

Well, get a load of THIS: according to the latest Gallup Polls, Li'l Snippy's down to a 57% approval rating -- again, lower than that of Bill Clinton.

What's more, the Shrub registers a 25% DISapproval rating, which, as Gallup notes, is

"...the highest initial disapproval that any president has received since Gallup began measuring approval over half a century ago...."

But wait! There's more!

As this earlier Gallup link shows, George W. Bush's ratings have dropped sharply ever since he announced his intention to steal (er, I mean 'run for'... no, I didn't) the Presidency:

"...perceptions of Bush remain overwhelmingly positive with 63% of Americans today, compared to 73% last year, saying they view him favorably."

Did you manage to see past the spin, here? 

The facts: even in the GOP-biased Gallup Poll, Shrub has gone from 73% to 63% to 57% in less than two years.

Gallup tried to spin the initial 10% drop as negligible -- which is amusing when you consider that whenever Clinton's ratings dipped a tenth of a percent, it was hailed as "the first signs of eroding public support" for Our Bill. 

Of course, when his ratings would rebound by five points, that was never, ever news.

Ask not for whom the polls toll, Usurper Boy: you -- or at least your minders know -- that they toll for thee.

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