« Big Brother not such a Big Deal to Americans? | Main | NSA moving many activities to Colorado »
January 28, 2006
The politics of the USA Patriot Act
The continuing debate over the USA Patriot Act may play a role in who controls Congress following this year's midterm elections.
The Republican National Committee has released this Web ad targeting Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), criticizing Reid for undermining law enforcement by opposing renewal of the act earlier this year (thanks to ABC News' "The Note" for the link).
The ad then enumerates the prosecutorial benefits of the act and urges constituents to contact Reid.
Can the GOP use USA Patriot Act opposition as an effective wedge against the Dems in '06? Too early to tell.
One Democrat, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, may say otherwise. Feingold is considered a serious candidate for the Dems' 2008 presidential nomination largely because of his ability to forge a conservative-liberal coalition in the Senate against renewal of some of the act's more controversial provisions.
Posted by Christopher Kriva at January 28, 2006 12:00 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://observer.medill.northwestern.edu/cgi-bin/movtyp/mt-tb.cgi/38