“Blowback” Comes in Many Forms

The errors of President Bush and the Republican Party are coming back to bite them in so many ways: Iraq, Afghanistan, domestic policies, even the way they’ve conducted their campaigns. For example, this editorial from the Tomah (WI).
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Editorial: Screening political foes backfired on President Bush

The tactics used by President Bush to filter political opponents from public events (campaign rallies and events associated with the official duties of his office) have been cynical, crude and obnoxious.

They’re also really dumb politics. Just ask former Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht, who lost his Nov. 7 race for re-election in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District to Democrat Tim Walz.

Walz, a high school teacher and retired sergeant major in the Minnesota Army National Guard, got politically active [only] after a 2004 incident at a Bush campaign rally in Minnesota.

The positive outcome of the Bush/Republican policies is that so many more people are becoming engaged, not just politically but in other advocacies too. For example, a conference on planning for the future of the Minnesota River watershed this week attracted over 200 participants