When Is Losing Winning?

When its Repugs "posturing" for the benefit of their base. They offer up bills they know they can't pass, but it makes them look like they're tring to appease conservative voters. When voters ask, "What have you done for me lately?", they have legislation to point to and can blame the Dems for the bills' failures.

This's preposterous of course when the Repugs control Congress.

The Republican-controlled Congress seems to be struggling lately to carry out its most basic mission: passing legislation.

A proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage failed. Long-debated immigration legislation has reached an impasse. The House passed a line-item veto and estate-tax measures that face significant hurdles in the Senate, while the Senate devoted a week to impassioned debates about Iraq that resulted only in two failed Democratic resolutions.

Democratic critics are reviving Harry Truman's taunt about a "do-nothing" Congress. But many Republicans say they are where they want to be as they head into November elections, which will determine whether they retain House and Senate majorities.

In every instance, Republican leaders pushed legislation known to have little or no chance of enactment but also known to appeal to conservative voters, whose turnout is crucial to the party's success.

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