MEHLMAN ON GOP DETAINEE RIFT: NO POLITICAL IMPACT

At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman quickly looked beyond today’s headlines of a GOP rift with a bit of a metaphorical shrug and said, "I’m not sure from a national perspective that there is that much political impact" to the McCain/Warner/Graham split with the President over detainee treatment.

"Voters don’t vote on a single issue," Mehlman explained.  "The average American is not paying attention to committee markups.  The average American is looking at the overall picture," he added.

Mehlman then went on to paint that overall picture by highlighting Democratic efforts to "kill" the PATRIOT Act, weaken NSA terrorist surveillance, and cut post-9/11 funding for intelligence.

Voters "are not going to see the President and [a Senator] disagree," Mehlman argued.  The Chairman claims voters will have an overall sense that Republicans are the ones who "recognize we are at war" and that Democrats would "weaken our efforts in the war on terror."