I happened to be in a group Sunday when one older gentleman, greeted with the usual question of "How're you doing?", said he was very upset by the news. Someone asked what he meant, and he replied, "Congress getting involved in the Schiavo case." Others in the group, basically conservative I would suppose, chimed in in agreement. This was the first time I had heard any of them discuss anything even vaguely political.

It was a wonderful moment. I felt quite certain, listening to their remarks, that the Republicans had finally gone too far. It is odd what will rouse the public, but roused they are.

An ABC News poll released yesterday confirms that observation. According to Reuters,

Americans broadly and strongly disapprove of the intervention by Congress in the case of Terri Schiavo and most believe lawmakers are using her case for political gain, according to an ABC News poll published on Monday.

Seventy percent deemed the congressional intervention inappropriate, while 67 percent said they believe lawmakers became involved in the Schiavo case for political advantage rather than the principles involved.

The telephone poll of 501 adults was taken on Sunday and has a 4.5 point error margin.
....

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed in the ABC poll said they support the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube.

The Republican action was supposed to be a sop to their "base," but the pandering didn't pan out.

Among two core Republicans constituencies, 54 percent of conservatives said they support removal of the tube, while evangelical Protestants divide about evenly with 46 percent support.

According to the poll, conservatives and evangelicals also were more likely to support federal intervention in the case, although the support did not reach a majority in either group. [all emphasis added]

We should hear the sounds of Republican backpedaling very, very soon.