"Pre-mortems" over the looming Republican washout in November have started. Usually an optimistic conservative, Fred Barnes predicts an electoral disaster.
In his stump speeches, the president concentrates on terror and taxes. And the contrast he draws between terror-fighting, tax-cutting Republicans and wimpy, taxaholic Democrats is reasonably accurate. But it's failing to attract independents or lure disgruntled conservatives back to the Republican fold.... The problem here is that national security isn't the leading campaign issue. And saying it should be won't make it so.
Glenn Reynolds, omniscient InstaPundit that he is, corrrectly blames the clueless Republican establishment and lists just a few of the "series of unforced errors on their part."
[T]he Republicans deserve to lose, though alas the Democrats don't really deserve to win, either. I realize that you go to war with the political class you have, but even back in the 1990s it was obvious that we had a lousy political class. It hasn't improved, but the challenges have gotten greater. Can the country continue to do well, with such bad political leadership? I hope so, because I see no sign of improvement, no matter who wins next month.
I just wish we weren't in a civilizational knife-fight just now. One would think the current conflict with assertive Islamism would sober everyone up, but apparently not. What will it take?
Posted by Alan at October 14, 2006 05:28 PM