GOP still knows how to scare the voters

Letter Published in the Baltimore Sun

May 9,2006

I had to do a double-take to make sure I was correctly reading the name "Cal Thomas" as the author of "Republicans run out of gas" (Opinion • Commentary, May 3).

Mr. Thomas, a conservative, wrote a rare indictment of many Republican elected officials "who seem to care less about change than perpetuating themselves in office." He also cites faulty leadership in the White House as a major blemish on the party.

While I agree with Mr. Thomas that the GOP has applied the brakes on any good ideas for the sake of power and made a detour on traditional Republican values, I disagree with his claim that "Democrats are better at scaring voters than Republicans."

Mr. Thomas should recall how the GOP scared Americans into re-electing President Bush in 2004 on the basis of frequently hyped, color-coded terror alerts during the campaign to convince voters that only Mr. Bush was capable of protecting the American people.

They also scared many African-American, evangelical and Catholic voters in key swing states into believing that gay marriage would lead to the demise of society.

The Republicans may have run out of gas on fresh ideas and sound governance, but they seem to always have a reserve in their tank when it comes to scaring voters.

Steve Charing

Clarksville