Vegetable Friend

Politics 101: When party A comes up with a transparent scheme to win voter sympathy, and party B can only respond with the accusation "Hey! That's a cheap political ploy!" - then party A wins the contest.

It's for this reason that Reagan (and every president since) added sympathetic Americans to the balcony during his state of the union speeches. And it's for this reason that Democrats, whenever the words "social security" are uttered, immediately haul out the dance squad of terrified elderly people talking about surviving on cat food.

And it's the reason for Terri Schiavo. Complain all you want.

UPDATE: Taking off my political handicapper hat - tonight I saw DeLay's recent comments on CNN, and he came off very oily and exploitative. The Shiavo issue may win political favor with religious conservatives, but it comes at the expense of a disregard for privacy during a painful time. Why can't we just leave these people alone?