- Katty Kay
- 18 Oct 06, 09:19 PM
2006? Forget it - 2008 is what major conservative donors are really worrying about, and they don't like the way their party is heading. Some of the biggest Republican donors are concerned that if the GOP loses the House in November it will boost chances of winning the presidential nomination in two years' time and they do not like the senator from Arizona.
Why not? Well, they just don't trust him on their core values, as one conservative Republican put it to me. Conservatives believe Mr McCain will say whatever is need to get elected but won't really represent their interests on social issues if he makes it to the White House.
But the same donors are in a fix right now. They can't see anyone else out there to get excited about.
The man they like best is . His politics seem most similar to theirs but they are genuinely concerned that the party's base, the Christian evangelicals, will never vote for a Mormon, which Mr Romney is.
Back to the mid-terms. If the Republicans lose control on Capitol Hill, the hunch is that the party will be so desperate to get back into power that stalwart Republican voters will decide to back a winner even if he's not a true conservative, and that's John McCain. Remember the 2008 campaign begins on 8 November, so watch where those donors put their money.
Katty Kay is a presenter on
- James Westhead
- 18 Oct 06, 06:57 PM
The has arrived - plus a few thousand more in the last 24 hours - but why the virtual silence from the White House on the matter?
Perhaps one reason for the coyness is political - just who are these extra Americans? "It's only a few weeks before an election when illegal immigration is a high-profile issue and they don't want to make a big deal out of it," William Frey, a demographer at the told me.
It's certainly true that many of the new Americans are not cute little babies. Immigrants - illegal or otherwise - make up roughly 40% of the expansion. And that's something Republicans, to use my favourite current Americanism, are "conflicted" over.
The Commerce Secretary , himself an immigrant from Cuba, says the Bush administration isn't playing down the milestone. "I would hate to think that we are going to be low key about this," said Gutierrez, whose department oversees the . "I would hope that we make a big deal about it." But when pressed the only celebration his department organised was some cake and fruit punch for census staff.
It's a shame in a way because the immigration sensitivity overshadows the real reason for this extraordinary growth, unmatched by the shrivelled, ageing populations in the rest of the developed world. That is simply that Americans have more babies than Europeans.
Mr Frey says he's not sure why - it may be their greater religiosity, a lingering frontier spirit or simply greater optimism about the future. It's that attractive optimism that means the melting pot is getting bigger but also getting more mixed. Politically sensitive perhaps - but uniquely American too.
James Westhead is a Washington correspondent for 大象传媒 News.
- The Reporters
- 18 Oct 06, 03:35 PM
Washington Post: Both Republicans and Democrats wonder what would happen if Democrats take control of Congress next month, leaving George W Bush a lame duck.
Washington Times: Top Republican strategist Karl Rove is not worrying about that possibility.
NPR: Voters say corruption is among the most important issues in determining how they will vote in November.
