As Bush Slips, GOP Faces Major Shift In '08 Vote

[Mark E. Smith]

Philadelphia Inquirer 10/10

Back when President Bush was riding high - before the public turned sour on Iraq, before conservatives got mad about his lavish spending and his Harriet Miers nomination - it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch.

But that is not happening.

The Republican hopefuls - as many as a dozen men who are already jockeying for advantage - don't want to be perceived as insiders and heirs to the Bush political establishment. On the contrary, most of them are trying to advertise their independence, to distance themselves from Bush on key issues, to appear as rebels fed up with the wicked ways of Washington.

A small sampling:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona is tweaking Bush for his budget-busting spending spree.

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a hero to grassroots conservatives, is threatening to oppose the Meirs nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska assails Bush on Iraq, contending that the White House is "disconnected from reality."

Etc...

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/12862102.htm

Oohh. Are the great gents of the GOP giving Georgie the Ken Lay brush-off?

Today's assignment: Round up all photos of these potential GOP presidential candidates kissing Bush's patrician fanny in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Soundbites of these fine gents gushing over the Hero of Baghdad's glorious accomplishments will also be gladly received for future use.

[tinrobot]

1. Eating their own...

Such a beautiful sight.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

2. McCain and Bushie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Odd picture: What about McCain's supposed black love child?

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

7. AMAZING that McCain could actively and so publicly stump for W...

It was just nauseating how McCain bent over backwards to re-elect that guy.

McCain is no real moderate either...he's an opportunist.

[Mark E. Smith]

8. McCain is here in California today ...

... doing photo ops with the always hideous Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Talk about bottom feeders ...

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Cannibalism 2005: The mark of a true conservative.

Eat hearty, lads. There's plenty to go around.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

4. ROTFLMAO...good one. nt

[Arkansas Democrat]

5. The rats are abandoning ship!

[AX10]

9. Hagel aside, the rest of them are right wing pigs.

They are all the same.

[ninkasi]

10. I wonder if them distancing themselves

from Chimp, and making public comments that are less than worshipful, is causing the Smirking One to have more frequent temper tantrums, and turning to the bottle more? Is his nanny Karen back from insulting the Middle East so that she can tuck him in at night?

[carolinalady]

11. here is something on Hagel--do not know if it is useful

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.lavoisier.com.au/papers/articles/Hagelletter.html&h=165&w=400&sz=15&tbnid=uzaH9vYX6UAJ:&tbnh=49&tbnw=120&hl=en&start=31&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhagel%2Bbush%2B%26start%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

[carolinalady]

12. and one more....

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2001/03/26/match.html&h=138&w=107&sz=8&tbnid=178LjjRRQxkJ:&tbnh=87&tbnw=67&hl=en&start=43&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhagel%2Bbush%2B%26start%3D40%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN