Why Republicans are Losing

Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry is just the latest Republican to forget the conservative values that are suppose to define Republicans.

On February 2, 2007, he signed an Executive Order making Texas the state to require girls aged 11 years old to receive the new drug Gardasil, which is being marketed as an anti-cervical drug. Rather than rehash the problems with Gardasil, please see my entry, "Saving the World or Making a Buck?" from a few ago.

Republican lawmakers, at both the state and national level, are abandoning the people that elected them to office in favor of more power and personal gain.

Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, and Mike DeWine are just a few Republicans to get caught up in recent scandals.

When did it become acceptable to use a Congressional position to enrich yourself personally? Did the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal make Republicans think they could get by with free sex?

As bright as some of these people may be to get themselves elected, they seem to have no common sense and cannot recognize the how far society has changed and hasn't changed.

The early 60's were a different time and Jack Kennedy was a different President. He may have had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, but she was of full age when it happened and I think it was still an accepted taboo of the times.

Twenty years later, it was an unaccepted taboo. Look at Gary Hart and Bob Livingston. Both of them were found to have affairs earlier in their careers and both were forced to end their political careers.

Bill Clinton survived the Lewinsky affair for one reason: He was a sitting president. The next president to be caught in an affair will not be so lucky.

There is no excuse for profiteering from political office, especially as blatantly as Gov. Perry is. Merck has acknowledged that they have increased their lobbying efforts (read that as giving more money), whether directly to the politicians or through lobbying groups.

Merck has also acknowledged that they have given funds to a group called Women in Government, an organization for women in state government, although they won't admit how much money they have given to the group.

The ties Perry has to Merck and Women In Government fail to pass the smell test. Perry's former chief of staff is a current lobbyist for Merck. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law is a Texas State Representative who just happens to be a state director for Women in Government.

Merck has already given Perry $6,000 for his campaign war chest. Will we see that increase to the $150,000 to $250,000 that Merck has been passing out to other Texas State lawmakers?

All in all, it just leads to another reason why you will see fewer and fewer Republicans elected to office.