Republican presidential candidates follow Bush over the SCHIP cliff

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Because those seeking the Republican presidential nomination must prove they hate American children more than the other nomination seekers, Romney, McCain, Giuliani, and Thompson have all come in support of Bush's veto of the popular SCHIP expansion:
The four leading Republican presidential candidates have aligned themselves with President Bush’s veto on Wednesday of an expanded health insurance program for children, once again testing the political risk of appearing in lock step with a president who has low approval ratings and some critics of the veto within their party.
Crooks and Liars says the following:

Perhaps more than any policy decision this year, the president’s decision to veto expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) was spectacularly dumb. It was bad politics, bad policy, and based on bad reasoning. Lawmakers from both parties, governors from both parties, medical professionals, and children’s’ advocates all agree that Bush’s nonsensical decision does nothing but hurt children.

It’s striking, then, that Bush’s would-be Republican successors all agree with the ridiculous White House line.

I think the four leading Republican candidates should have written the following letter. Since they didn't, I did it for them:
Dear Democrats,

We love you so. Please bash us over the head with this again and again and again. Every child who would have gotten this coverage but didn't because of this veto can now appear in your campaign ads against us. We have given you an army of poster children, many of whom will be very cute. They will be from many different states and have many different ethnicities, so you can pick which child you use to maximize empathic effect with different target demographics. It is possible that some of these children may get sick or even die because of this veto, and I'm sure your attack ad makers won't have too much trouble finding them if they do. By supporting this veto, we have publicly sided with not giving American children health care, which conveniently plays into the worst stereotypes people have about Republicans. We did this because we are so desperate to prove our wignut credentials that we are willing to sacrifice any chance of winning in the general election.

Sincerely,

The seekers of the 2008 Republican presidential nomination

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