The Thunderous Silence on a Libby Pardon

Political columnist Dick Polman notes that to his knowledge not a single elected Republican has called on President Bush to pardon Scooter Libby.

Why, he asks, all the thunderous silence?

Unlike all the personal friends and editorial boards and defense lawyers and activists, the Republicans who have to face the voters in 2008 can’t afford to be blasé about the mood of the American electorate. And on virtually all matters relating to the war in Iraq, the mood does not bode well for Republican candidates. In the latest bipartisan poll sponsored by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, 69 percent of Americans say they are pessimistic about the war’s outcome; in the latest CBS-New York Times poll, Bush’s approaval rating on Iraq stands at 23 percent (that’s no typo). But most relevant to the Libby affair are the longstanding numbers showing that a majority believe the Bush team deliberately misled us into war.

More here.