Don't help your enemy when they're falling apart

The 2006 election was considered by most Republicans, and many Democrats, to be the high-water mark of Democratic success. Republicans sight their fatal shoot-yourself-in-the-foot disease as the cause of the Democratic take-over rather than a substantive Democratic agenda. Democrats, however, furthered their cause by perpetuating the phrase, created by Rahm Emanuel, "the culture of corruption" that summed up the nation's feelings of the Republican controlled Congress. The Republican rebuttal of "the Democrats have no issues and have their own corruption issues, just look at Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana," did not break through and the Democrats ran the table. The basic Democrat strategy was to violate an axiom developed by Democrat Tip O'Neill: all politics is local. By nationalizing the election the focus would be put on the aggregate Republican instead of the individual Republican. (Americans tend to view Congress, as a whole, negatively while still liking their individual representative)

However, Republicans saw it as manna from heaven when they starting seeing poll numbers that rated the Democrat-controlled Congress with roughly 20% approval. (a recent Pew Research Poll put it at 23%, but some numbers have been considerably lower). Republicans are now quick to label it a "do-nothing Congress", a homage to what Harry Truman called the Republican-controlled Congress in route to his 1948 electoral upset. Maybe, just maybe, 2008 is the year for Republicans to get back on the horse! If only they can avoid making the news for things that would be considered part of "the culture of corruption."

The last thing that the Republicans have done since 2006 is avoid the perception that they're still plagued by a "culture of corruption." Over the summer, it was reported that Republican Senator David Vitter had had relations with the infamous "D.C. Madam" and pleaded guilty to soliciting sex. And just today, Republican Senator Larry Craig has announced that he will resign from the Senate at the end of September after pleading guilty to misdemeanor where he solicited sex from a male undercover police officer while in the Minneapolis airport. As a side note, Republican Senator John Warner from Virginia has said that he will not seek re-election in 2008. This has led to a lot of speculation that popular Democratic Governor Mark Warner will seek the seat. That is a great opportunity for the Democrats to pick up another Senate seat.

At least Republicans can count on the White House to remain stalwart, as it always has. Despite its lagging, that's one word for it, poll numbers, the Bush administration can still use its remaining political clout to help challenge the Democrats in Congress. However, the Bush administration is becoming severely hampered in its ability to challenge just about anything. Earlier in the summer, close Bush advisor, former communications director and White House counselor Dan Barlett announced his intentions to leave. A Bush loyalist, Barlett had been with Bush since his days in Texas and was one of few staffers who had unlimited access to the president. Then the bomb dropped with Karl Rove announcing his resignation from the White House. Rove had previously said that he planned on being in the White House until Jan 20, 2009, but the ousting of Scooter Libby in the Plame case, the disastrous 2006 elections and Rove's alleged connection to the attorney firings all expedited his leaving office. Then Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, after a cloud of deception and smoke, resigned from office. That was a large political victory for the Democrats who had been urging for his resignation for a while, and slowly gaining Republican support. And then in a final blow, Bush announced that his press secretary Tony Snow will step down. Snow had been on the few faces that helped right the ship for the second term. However, no one smirks at his departure because Snow had continued his duties even while battling cancer. I, personally, really enjoyed watching Snow bring a certain amount of humor to his office.

In the end, the White House is weakened in its ability to combat the Democratic Congress and the Republicans are only perpetuating their "culture of corruption." In short, 2006 may not be the high-water mark, after all. And, what is the Democratic response to all of this? You'd be hard pressed to find one. The Democrats are following an old political axiom: If your enemy is self-destructing, don't help them. The Democrats stand to have more gains in 2008, and build upon an unpopular majority by defeating an even more unpopular minority.

-Wyatt Earp