Public Policy Polling won’t have final numbers until this afternoon, but its Twitter comments indicate Jivin’ Joe Wilson apparently did President Obama a world of good by dishonestly calling the president a liar during his speech to Congress. Obama, whipped in Wilson’s congressional district in 2008, now enjoys a positive rating there. And not even a majority of REPUBLICANS would say they supported Wilson. “Wilson is definitely in trouble,” pollster says. UPDATE: numbers show him in dead heat with Democratic challenger and heavy disapproval of his actions.

You can understand now the Republican apologists who are saying too much is being made of Wilson’s butt-showing. If you believe them, Democrats are obscuring their message by talking about Wilson.

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Not so.

Joe Wilson is the living, breathing, angry-white-Southern-male symbol of what the Republican Party has come to stand for — opposition to the president and health care reform no matter what. They oppose him even when he adopts dozens of their own ideas. For millions of sick people without adequate health care, Just Saying No isn’t a compelling political argument.

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Furthermore, even (some) people who don’t much like Obama are uncomfortable being lumped with die-hard Dixiepublicans like Wilson who want  to keep waving the Rebel flag over South Carolina and who would deny Strom Thurmond’s illegitimate black daughter the right to publicly claim her paternity. You want such a person as the (anger-contorted) face of your party?

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