Clipmarks | Kore7's 'conservatives' clips

Where Were Vocal Conservatives When It Mattered?

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 17:11:31 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Rod Dreher is a conservative writer for Beliefnet.

Few of us stood up to Bush when he took us to this disastrous war in Iraq. Few, if any, stood up to him over his foolish support for Rumsfeld, long after it became obvious what a disaster Rumsfeld was. Few, if any, stood up to him over his amassing of power in the executive branch. Few, if any, stood up to him on the spending....

Clip Source: www.beliefnet.com

So yes, by all means let's turn our backs on this failed presidency, and save what we can, while we can. But let's not kid ourselves: Bush has failed conservatives, yes, but we have also failed ourselves. It doesn't take much courage to stand up for conservative principle to a president as weak as this one has become.

If we're looking to blame someone for the failure of Republican government and the conservative crack-up, look to the White House, yes, and look to the late, unlamented Republican Congress. But also look to the conservative talk show hosts, the conservative columnists, and finally, in the mirror. The only way we're going to rebuild after the present and coming political shattering is through honest reckoning, and taking responsibility for what we've done.

It is tempting to blame Bush for everything. But it's not fair, and it's not honest. Bush is today who he always was. The difference is we conservatives pretty much loved the guy -- when he was a winner.

Tags: conservatives, republicans, gop, bush, failure, blame, fear, responsibility, principles, honesty

Quotes: conservative pundits on Iraq, 4 years ago

Thu, 17 May 2007 19:55:49 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: No comment. Just have a look.

Clip Source: img525.imageshack.us

Tags: politics, conservatives, iraq, comics

The Coulterization of the American Right

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:23:36 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: "And if the Republicans go down big in 2008, conservatives will finally be forced to confront the Frankenstein monster they created...."

Clip Source: www.salon.com

The Coulterization of the American right

For this isn't really about Coulter at all. This is about a pact the American right made with the devil, a pact the devil is now coming to collect on. American conservatism sold its soul to the Coulters and Limbaughs of the world to gain power, and now that its ideology has been exposed as empty and its leadership incompetent and corrupt, free-floating hatred is the only thing it has to offer. The problem, for the GOP, is that this isn't a winning political strategy anymore -- but they're stuck with it. They're trapped. They need the bigoted and reactionary base they helped create, but the very fanaticism that made the True Believers such potent shock troops will prevent the Republicans from achieving Karl Rove's dream of long-term GOP domination.

Tags: coulter, ann coulter, limbaugh, rush limbaugh, america, usa, gop, conservatives, republicans, politics, faggot, extremism, hate, fear, values

Bush 'happy' for pregnant Mary Cheney

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:10:14 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush stood by his belief about a mother and father but also believes that "every human life is sacred and that every child that comes into this world deserves love and he believes that Mary Cheney's child will in fact have loving parents."

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Bush 'happy' for pregnant Mary Cheney

POSTED: 1:45 p.m. EST, December 15, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's pregnant lesbian daughter Mary will make a "fine mom," President Bush said, sidestepping his past comment that a child ideally would be raised by a mother and father.

Mary Cheney, 37, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe, are expecting their first child, which would be the sixth grandchild for the vice president. Cheney was hired last year as an executive for America Online -- whose parent company Time Warner also owns People as well as CNN.

"I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I'm happy for her," Bush said in an interview with People magazine.

In a 2005 interview with The New York Times, Bush said: "I believe children can receive love from gay couples. But the ideal is -- and studies have shown that --the ideal is where a child is raised in a married family with a man and a woman."

He sidestepped the issue when questioned by People magazine about whether he still held that belief.

"Mary Cheney is going to make a fine mom, and she's going to love this child a lot," he said, according to an excerpt from the interview. During the 2004 campaign, Mary Cheney served as a key aide to her father.

Bush has supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, but Congress failed to pass it. The vice president's daughter opposed the measure.

Tags: bush, george bush, cheney, mary cheney, gay, lesbian, homosexual, child, baby, parents, pregnant, mother, family, conservatives, gay marriage, rights

National Review Online: What's wrong with the GOP?

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 03:10:41 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Even the big daddy of all conservative commentary sites has smelled the coffee.

(Via Andrew Sullivan.)

Clip Source: article.nationalreview.com

November 30, 2006 12:16 PM

My Kind of GOP

Why do the Republicans seem to be on autopilot?

What’s gone wrong with the GOP? Let me start by quoting a friend who is both gay and conservative (yes, I know several such): “I’m for low taxes, strong defense and limited government. Why doesn’t the Republican party want me?”

There’s a two-part answer to that question and neither half is good news. The first is that today’s GOP doesn’t really want gays — and it yearns to supervise everybody else’s bedroom and reproductive behavior as well as (implicitly, at least) their relationship to God. The second is that Republicans are no longer really in favor of limited government. Besides having their own version of a nanny state, they want to spend and spend, start program after program, ladle out the pork, make deals with influence peddlers, and spin the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street. Yes, they still pretend to favor low taxes but that’s an illusion; they pay for limitless government via huge deficits that will mean high taxes for my granddaughter.

Tags: national review, nro, gop, conservatives, conservative, gay, government, spending, corruption, taxes, politics, deficit, usa, republican

Barry Goldwater on Christian Conservatives

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 15:14:28 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Five-term Republican US Senator, Barry Goldwater.

(Sources: November 1994, Conservatives Without Conscience, John Dean; Congressional Record, September 16, 1981.)

Clip Source: time.blogs.com

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them...

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'" - Barry Goldwater, prophet.

Tags: goldwater, barry goldwater, presience, christian, conservative, conservatives, senator, fundamentalism, politics, christianism, government, ideology, usa, quote

How modern evangelicals are ignoring their own history

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:01:00 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

Today's Christian conservatives often note that Jefferson's famous line declaring that the first amendment had created “a wall separating church and state” was not in the Constitution but in a private letter. But in that letter, Jefferson was responding to one sent to him by a group of Baptists in Danbury, Conn. We usually read Jefferson's side of that exchange. It's worth re-reading what the Danbury Baptists had to say because it reminds us that for the 18th-century evangelicals, the separation of church and state was not only required by the practicalities of their minority status, but was also demanded by God. “Religions is at all times and places a matter between God and individuals,” the Baptists wrote, warning that government “dare not assume the prerogatives of Jehova and make Laws to govern the Kingdom of Christ.” Government had no business meddling in the affairs of the soul, where there is only one Ruler.

Clip Source: www.washingtonmonthly.com

April 2006

The Framers and the Faithful
How modern evangelicals are ignoring their own history.

By Steven Waldman

It is ironic, then, that evangelicals—so focused on the “true” history—have neglected their own. Indeed, the one group that would almost certainly oppose the views of 21st-century evangelicals are the 18th-century evangelicals. John Leland was no anomaly. In state after state, when colonists and Americans met to debate the relationship between God and government, it was the proto-evangelica1s who pushed the more radical view that church and state should be kept far apart. Both secular liberals who sneer at the idea that evangelicals could ever be a positive influence in politics and Christian conservatives who want to knock down the “wall” should take note: It was the 18th-century evangelicals who provided the political shock troops for Jefferson and Madison in their efforts to keep government from strong involvement with religion. Modern evangelicals are certainly free to take a different course, but they should realize that in doing so they have dramatically departed from the tradition of their spiritual forefathers.

Tags: government, steven waldman, evangelicals, christians, christianity, religion, church, state, framers, constitution, usa, america, rebellion, revolution, england, founding fathers, belief, faith, separation, rights, bill of rights, politics, history

Prominent conservative surveys the wreckage of contemporary conservatism

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 17:52:12 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: The entire article is highly reccommended for those that want to trace the GOP's post-9/11 "stumble into neoconservatism" from an insider's perspective. Bramwell's honesty and way with words are refreshing.

Until recently, it has been almost impossible for me to speak candidly about the conservative movement, for it was my strange fate to serve as director and later trustee of the movement’s flagship journal, National Review. Earlier this year, at William F. Buckley’s request, I resigned both positions. I can therefore now declare what perhaps has oft been thought but never, at least not often enough, expressed. Notwithstanding conservatives’ belief that they, in contrast to their partisan opponents, have thought deeply about the challenges facing the United States, it is they who have become unserious.

Clip Source: www.amconmag.com

November 20, 2006 Issue

The American Conservative

Good-bye to All That

by Austin W. Bramwell

Despite their vacuity, the metaphors have inspired specific policies. In defending the invasion and occupation of Iraq (and possible attacks on Syria or Iran), conservatives invoke 9/11 with astonishing alacrity. I once heard an NR senior editor, a man revered for his high-mindedness, begin his defense of the Iraq occupation by reminding the audience that on 9/11 “they” attacked “us.” In his mind as in others’, the invasion of Iraq has so inescapable a connection to 9/11 that only a traitor or fool would deny it.

In short, the steps in the causal logic whereby Iraqi democracy defeats anti-American terrorism are so numerous and doubtful that it becomes impossible to believe that Bush’s supporters have ever actually thought them through. Those who wonder what error befell the conservative movement since Bush took office are asking the wrong question. Since 9/11, the conservative movement has not made unsound or fallacious arguments for supporting Bush’s policies. Rather, it has made no arguments at all. T.S. Eliot once asked, “Are you alive or not? Is there nothing in your head?” The answer: “Nothing, again, nothing.”

Tags: bramwell, austin bramwell, national review, conservatives, neoconservatives, 9/11, iraq, war, politics, usa, foreign policy, middle east, islam, terrorism

American Conservative Magazine: GOP Must Go

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 15:05:26 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq.

Clip Source: www.amconmag.com

November 20, 2006 Issue

GOP Must Go

It should surprise few readers that we think a vote that is seen—in America and the world at large—as a decisive “No” vote on the Bush presidency is the best outcome. We need not dwell on George W. Bush’s failed effort to jam a poorly disguised amnesty for illegal aliens through Congress or the assaults on the Constitution carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorism or his administration’s endorsement of torture. Faced on Sept. 11, 2001 with a great challenge, President Bush made little effort to understand who had attacked us and why—thus ignoring the prerequisite for crafting an effective response. He seemingly did not want to find out, and he had staffed his national-security team with people who either did not want to know or were committed to a prefabricated answer.

As a consequence, he rushed America into a war against Iraq, a war we are now losing and cannot win, one that has done far more to strengthen Islamist terrorists than anything they could possibly have done for themselves. Bush’s decision to seize Iraq will almost surely leave behind a broken state divided into warring ethnic enclaves, with hundreds of thousands killed and maimed and thousands more thirsting for revenge against the country that crossed the ocean to attack them. The invasion failed at every level: if securing Israel was part of the administration’s calculation—as the record suggests it was for several of his top aides—the result is also clear: the strengthening of Iran’s hand in the Persian Gulf, with a reach up to Israel’s northern border, and the elimination of the most powerful Arab state that might stem Iranian regional hegemony.

The war will continue as long as Bush is in office, for no other reason than the feckless president can’t face the embarrassment of admitting defeat. The chain of events is not complete: Bush, having learned little from his mistakes, may yet seek to embroil America in new wars against Iran and Syria.

Tags: american, conservative, conservatives, gop, bush, bush administration, war, iraq, policy, washington, election, campaign, midterm, vote, voters, referendum, principles, conservatism

Soldiers of Christ: Inside America's most powerful megachurch with Pastor Ted Haggard

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 01:14:38 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

No pastor in America holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism than does Pastor Ted, and no church more than New Life.

Having lived in Colorado Springs for 6 years, some people ask me what it's like living in what some consider the Christian Capital of America. Colorado Springs has a lot going for it besides Dr. Dobson and Ted Haggard, but politically and spiritually speaking, this article explains how the city became the center for the Religious Right movement.

Clip Source: www.harpers.org

Inside America's most powerful megachurch with Pastor Ted Haggard

Posted on Thursday, November 2, 2006. Originally from May 2005. By Jeff Sharlet.

The press tends to regard Dobson as the most powerful evangelical Christian in America, but Pastor Ted is at least his equal. Whereas Dobson plays the part of national scold, promising to destroy politicians who defy the Bible, Pastor Ted quietly guides those politicians through the ritual of acquiescence required to save face. He doesn't strut, like Dobson; he gushes. When Bush invited him to the Oval Office to discuss policy with seven other chieftains of the Christian right in late 2003, Pastor Ted regaled his whole congregation with the story via email. “Well, on Monday I was in the World Prayer Center”—New Life's high-tech, twenty-four-hour-a-day prayer chapel —“and my cell phone rang.” It was a presidential aide; “the President,” says Pastor Ted, wanted him on hand for the signing of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Pastor Ted was on a plane the next morning and in the President's office the following afternoon. “It was incredible,” wrote Pastor Ted. He left it to the press to note that Dobson wasn't there.

Tags: haggard, ted haggard, new life church, james dobson, focus on the family, colorado springs, church, megachurch, christian, christians, evangelical, fundamentalism, gay, gay rights, homophobia, politics, conservatives, nae

Conservatives Angry with Rupert Murdoch

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 18:01:09 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

But the little people would have none of it. It was the contamination of traditional media by politically hostile elements that bothered them. Why was Al Jazeera shown on BSkyB? And why did BSkyB broadcast Channel 4's Death of a President, which mocks-up the assassination of George W Bush?

Clip Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

Murdoch may have a Chinese wife, but what on earth, conservative shareholder Cliff Kincaid wanted to know, was he doing having so many dealings with Communist China?

The obvious answer - making money - was clearly not acceptable to the moral majority.

And why, perhaps even worse in their eyes, was he breakfasting with Hillary Clinton, having held a fundraiser for the Democratic senator?

'She is a very intelligent, smart and charming politician,' Murdoch purred. He ignored the Communist China reference while emphatically answering 'No' to questions about whether he was currently doing business with North Korea.

Meanwhile, Leon Weil wanted to know why Murdoch's channels broadcast programmes such as Nip/Tuck which, he spluttered, featured misogyny, bestiality, necrophilia and was going to screen a 'rear entry' sex scene in the next three months? They are all on after kids' bedtime, Murdoch assured.He tried to distract them with news of the company's fast-growing internet division, which has recently bought MySpace. 'To some in the traditional media business, these are the most stressful of times. For us it's a great time,' he said.

But the little people would have none of it. It was the contamination of traditional media by politically hostile elements that bothered them. Why was Al Jazeera shown on BSkyB? And why did BSkyB broadcast Channel 4's Death of a President, which mocks-up the assassination of George W Bush?

Of course, broadcasting rules dictate that Murdoch operate 'open platforms', allowing everything from Al Jazeera to Antiques Roadshow down his tubes.

But finally he could sympathise with his critics. 'Unfortunately I cannot censor the BBC or Channel 4,' he grumbled.And that's not a poison pill, just a bitter one.

Tags: murdoch, rupert murdoch, media, fox news, bskyb, tv, television, hilary, al-jazeera, china, communists, smut, conservatives, business

Evangelicals betrayed by Bush administration: Farah

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 15:23:56 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Farah is the founder and editorial voice of the very influential conservative Christian website, WorldNetDaily.

This is the face of the Republican Party establishment. It's the reason Democrats are likely to sweep into power in a few short weeks. It's an illustration of the double talk we get from the Bush administration. It's confirmation that we who actually believe in that Bible have nowhere to turn politically in this country – at least in terms of voting options.

Remember what I told you on the evening of Nov. 7.

Don't blame me for the Republican debacle to come. Blame the people who brought it to you – the people in power.

Clip Source: www.worldnetdaily.com

What do they really believe?

Posted: October 20, 2006

1:00 a.m. Eastern

What does the Republican Party really believe?

What does the Bush administration really want?

What does the congressional leadership really think?

These are questions on the minds of Americans this week as we draw near to a mid-term congressional election that threatens to change the balance of power in Washington.

If the Republicans do lose one or both houses of Congress, it will be because Americans have lost trust in them, because Republican constituents feel like it doesn't make that much difference who is in power, because the people feel betrayed.

Why would they feel that way? Because it's true – they have been betrayed by an incompetent and arrogant Republican Party leadership in the White House and Congress.

I didn't need a former Bush administration official to tell me that most White House political operatives don't really like the evangelical base that brought them to power. I've seen the evidence for myself, up close and personal.

But the more astonishing phenomenon is how current high-level officials of the Bush administration daily go out of their way to insult this critical constituency just weeks before the vote.

Here's an example: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, someone who claims to be a Christian herself, which, by definition, means you submit to the authority of Jesus and the Bible, last week swore in to the position of AIDS coordinator an open homosexual. The position carries the rank of ambassador. The photo accompanying this column shows the smiling first lady, Laura Bush, and Mark Dybul's partner, Jason Claire, leering at him.

During her comments, Rice referred to the presence of Claire's mother and – sit yourself down for this one – called her Dybul's "mother-in-law."

Do you get the picture?

Tags: joseph farah, wnd, bush administration, condi, homosexual, gay, aids, duplicity, betrayal, election, voters, conservatives, religion, religious right, evangelicals, bible

Voters' Approval of Congress Falls To 16%, Lowest Point in 12 Years

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:32:17 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: More bad news for conservatives. Three new records were set with today's Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. 16 percent!

The latest results set other records, also to Republicans' disadvantage: Fully two-thirds of the electorate rates this year's Congress "below average" or "one of the worst" -- the poorest showing on that question since it was first asked in 1990. As for the Republican Party, 32% of voters rate it positively and 49% negatively -- the highest negative ever for either party in the surveys. The Democratic Party, after months in which it also had a net negative rating only slightly better than the Republican Party's, now is viewed positively by 37% and negatively by 35%.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Voters' Approval of Congress Falls
To 16%, Lowest Point in 12 Years

JOHN HARWOOD

Public support for Republicans' control of the U.S. Congress has eroded to its lowest point since the party took over 12 years ago. And with just 19 days until the midterm elections, both President George W. Bush and his party are in worse shape with voters than Democrats were in the October before they lost their House and Senate majorities in 1994.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News Poll shows that voters' approval of Congress has fallen to 16% from 20% since early September, while disapproval has risen to 75% from 65%. That 16% approval statistically matches Congress's lowest point in the 17 years the Journal and NBC have polled, set in April 1992 at the height of a congressional scandal involving members' overdrafts from their House bank.

By 52% to 37%, voters say they want Democrats rather than Republicans to control Congress after the Nov. 7 election. That wide 15-point Democratic advantage is another record in the history of the Journal/NBC poll.

Also, the result marks the first time that voters' preference for one party has exceeded 50%. In October 1994, just before voters ousted Democrats' majorities, they said they preferred a Republican-controlled Congress by a six-point margin, 44% to 38%. Back then, voters were split over President Bill Clinton, with 46% approving of his performance and 45% disapproving. Mr. Bush's job-approval rating, which had crept up to 42% in early September, has fallen back to 38%. A 57% majority disapproves of his performance.

The Journal/NBC telephone survey of 1,006 registered voters, conducted Oct. 13-16, carries a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Tags: conservatives, gop, democrats, congress, bush, approval, opinion, poll, survey, election, voters, midterms, wsj, nbc

Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse: Science, Religion, and the Slippery Slope

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:27:10 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

In the wake of the scandal of former Congressman Mark Foley’s inappropriate behavior involving teenage male pages, a number of conservative commentators and organizations are reviving an old charge that homosexuals are more likely to sexually abuse children.

But, as the author points out, this research has been debunked for decades now and is only being resurrected again for campaigning purposes.

The numerous citations of the scientific literature by social conservatives initially look impressive. However, when one examines the original studies that have been cited, one finds that the conclusions of the original studies are contrary to the claims made by those citing the studies. Most significantly, while social conservatives claim that all the cases of sexual molestation of young boys by adult males are committed by homosexuals, the scientists whom they cite explicitly reject this assertion. Let us examine the actual claims of the scientists, one by one.

Clip Source: www.internationalorder.org

Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse:

Science, Religion, and the Slippery Slope

Mark E. Pietrzyk*

Executive Summary

In response to the scandal involving former Congressman Mark Foley, a number of conservative religious groups have claimed that homosexuals pose a substantially greater risk of committing sexual abuse against children than heterosexuals, and have issued papers citing a number of scientific studies to support these claims. However, when one examines the studies cited in these papers, one finds that the religious right has engaged in some serious distortion of the works of others. The scientists who authored the studies made no such claim about homosexuals posing a greater threat to children, and in fact in many cases argued the opposite.

In addition, many in the religious right have employed a version of the “slippery slope” argument, charging that the gay rights movement has led inevitably to tolerance for pedophilia by eroding all traditional norms of sexual behavior. However, the “slippery slope” argument is based on the false premise that the protection of children from sexual activity is a long-standing part of the Judeo-Christian ethic, which has only recently come under assault as a result of the gay rights movement. In fact, throughout most of history, the Judeo-Christian tradition tolerated and even approved of sexual relations between adult males and girls of twelve years of age or even younger. The contemporary taboo against sex between adults and minors developed only in the late nineteenth century, as societies became increasingly committed to the ideals of individual rights and personal autonomy, which led to concern about the possibility of coercion and exploitation in adult-minor relationships.

Tags: science, sociology, society, culture, homosexuality, homosexuals, gay, gay marriage, mark foley, foley, pietrzyk, family research council, timothy dailey, pat robertson, focus on the family, study, abuse, sexual, children, politics, religion

New Poll: Democrats Open Up Giant Gap Before Midterm Elections

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:21:58 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks:

Government corruption, Iraq and terrorism were the three most important issues to poll respondents. They said Democrats would do a better job on all three. The party had a 21-point advantage on handling corruption and a 17-point advantage on Iraq. A longstanding GOP advantage on terrorism vanished; Democrats had a 5-point edge.

Yet another set of record-breaking poll results in.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Poll: Democratic candidates open large lead in congressional races

Updated 10/9/2006 7:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Four weeks before congressional elections, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows Democrats hold a 23-point lead over GOP candidates. That's double the lead Republicans had a month before they seized control of Congress in 1994.

President Bush's approval rating was 37%, down from 44% in a Sept. 15-17 poll. The approval rating for Congress was 24%, down 5 points from last month.

The plummeting GOP ratings in the poll of 1,007 adults, taken Friday through Sunday, come after a series of dismal developments for the party. They include high levels of violence in Iraq; a National Intelligence Estimate that contradicted upbeat administration statements on Iraq; a new Bob Woodward book about internal White House disagreements over Iraq policy, and the Sept. 29 resignation of GOP Rep. Mark Foley hours after reports that he exchanged sexually explicit instant messages with teenage House pages.

She called the Foley scandal "the absolute crystallization for people of everything they dislike about Washington and the congressional Republicans."

Two-thirds of those in the survey said they are following the page scandal very or somewhat closely.

On the question of which party's candidate would receive their vote if the election were held today, Democrats held a 23-point lead over Republicans among every type of person questioned — likely voters, registered voters and adults. That's the largest lead Democrats have held among registered voters since 1978 and a jump from last month's 48%-48% split among likely voters.

Tags: poll, survey, usa today, gallup, voters, election, house, congress, representatives, conservatives, democrats, politics