The resurgence in Republican confidence about November is real. The Stiftung encounters it throughout the Republican apparat.



First, the plummetting retail gas price, engineered by Big Oil continues to defuse the short term memory and angst of the American electorate. Has there ever been a more shameless and crassly overt manipulation of modern demos before an election? Oh wait, the terror alerts of 2004. Never mind.

Second, Democrats continue to be passive observers to politics and thus hostage to those who choose to shape political environments by AgitProp. They stumble into the Administration's frame of the day. We agree with our more learned pollster friends that history teaches if Bush is above 40% on election day, it will go a long way to undercutting a Democrat drive to retake the House.

Third, as Dana Milbank has noted, the Democrats still can't settle on a message while the Republican message of “Vote Democrat and Die” is simple, clear and effective.

For once, we would like to see the Democrats take a stand and fight on principle to win. One would think they learned from 2004 that playing not to lose is the path to defeat.

Update: Joe Scarborough has this hilarious piece in the WaPo advising House Republicans to campaign against Dubya. Unfortunately, Joe doesn't realize that the House Republicans are as much of the problem as Dubya himself.

All of them must go. For the sake of the Republic and even a future Republican Party. Only in defeat will a Republican Party re-examine its mutation into bizarre Christian Socialist Authoritarianism. And if it won't or can't even then, fine, let it rot on the ash heap of history.