"Fool me once...won't get fooled again"

Wow. Despite all the pandering by Frist, DeLay, Bush and the rest of the cynical crew previously known as Republicans; despite a media that has showed the same few seconds of the Terri Schiavo video that her parents want us to see, over and over, and has repeatedly echoed the claim that this is a "values" issue; despite DeLay's and the Wall Street Journal editorial page's unbelievable and corrupt efforts to paint Michael Schiavo as some kind of an abusive husband; despite Scottie McClellan's implications that wanting to see this sad spectacle brought to a merciful end means you're opposed to "a culture of life;" despite all of that, the American public ain't buying it.

Not only does the majority of those polled support removing the poor woman's feeding tube and believe that it is inappropriate for Congress to get involved with this case, but remarkably, those calling themselves "Conservatives" and/or "Evangelical Christians" are seeing right through the cynical smokescreen.

GOP GROUPS – Views on this issue are informed more by ideological and religious views than by political partisanship. Republicans overall look much like Democrats and independents in their opinions. But two core Republican groups – conservatives and evangelical Protestants – are more divided: Fifty-four percent of conservatives support removal of Schiavo’s feeding tube, compared with seven in 10 moderates and liberals.

And evangelical Protestants divide about evenly – 46 percent are in favor of removing the tube, 44 percent opposed. Among non-evangelical Protestants, 77 percent are in favor – a huge division between evangelical and mainline Protestants.

Conservatives and evangelicals also are more likely to support federal intervention in the case, although it doesn’t reach a majority in either group. Indeed, conservative Republicans oppose involving the federal courts, by 57-41 percent.

Conservatives and evangelicals hold these views even though most people in both groups – 73 and 68 percent, respectively – say that if they personally were in this condition, they would not want to be kept alive.

Regardless of their preference on the Schiavo case, about two-thirds of conservatives and evangelicals alike call congressional intervention inappropriate. And majorities in both groups, as in others, are skeptical of the motivations of the political leaders seeking to extend Schiavo’s life.

As Kevin Drum notes, this whole circus was intended for the GOP's "base." And I have heard over and over on radio and TV that the GOP's "base" is "demanding that Terri Schiavo's life be saved." Well, apparently the "base" is a little closer to the mainstream than we've been led to believe. At least on the issue of not wanting to see the life of a person whose brain is severely damaged needlessly prolonged. And apparantly the "base" is made a little uneasy when politicians cynically intrude on a private matter in their name.