Republicans: The Party of Global Good Will

Oddjob passed along this link with the note: "Looks like the wingnuts have found themselves an unexploited wedge issue." Oh, goody!

Suggests [pollster and author Frank Luntz]: Because the Republicans want to win in Iraq, and they want a "strong military," the issue they can use to keep the White House in 2008 is the United Nations.

The UN, says Luntz, "has not supported the American position" and was "hostile" in Iraq.

…[Luntz pointed] to the United Nations as the GOP "sleeper issue," as determined by research done for Fox. Telling the UN "Enough is enough," says Luntz, is an issue the GOP can use to rally its base in the upcoming election.

Now, I don't think the UN is perfect, and I don't think it's above reform, but I cannot begin to express how profoundly irritated and disgusted I will be if the GOP tries to turn "the UN sucks!" into a national campaign issue. Exposing (yet further) to the world the deep, ugly strain of xenophobia that runs throughout this nation is the last thing in which a country in search of restoring global good will ought to be engaging, even if it were more than just a stunning bit of mendacious disingenuousness—which it isn't. There's not an infinitesimal chance that America's relationship with the UN would substantially change under any credible GOP administration, and to pretend differently merely to exploit a largely untapped reserve of hatred among the conservative base is just appalling.

So expect it to come soon to a GOP platform near you.