HASTERT AND FOLEY SITTING IN A TREE-- THE END OF THE GOP: LUNTZ TELLS TIME THAT THE REPUGS HAVE BECOME EVERYTHING THEY ONCE SWORE TO DESTROY

In Frank Luntz' opinion piece in the new issue of Time he starts off with the Blue America theme song: Had enough? and then answers it the same way we would: "America has."

With "Planet Denny" Hastert canceling fundraising events all over the country and RNCC Chairman Tom Reynolds fighting desperately for his own re-election and canceling long-scheduled television appearances, the GOP is in complete disarray. "Anyone who reads the polls accurately and honestly," says the Republicans' pre-eminent pollster, "will acknowledge that the Republican Party is likely to lose control of the House of Representatives... Americans are tired of the war, tired of watching illegal aliens race across our unguarded borders, tired of high energy costs, tired of wasteful Washington spending, and tired of story after story of political corruption and misbehavior... The Republican Party of 2006 is a tired, cranky shell of the aggressive, reformist movement that was swept into office in 1994 on a wave of positive change. I knew those Republicans. I worked for them. They were friends of mine. These Republicans are not those Republicans. The same people who were elected on a platform of change have become the establishment bulls who fight change today. The 1994 Republicans advocated balanced budgets. Today, they defend deficits. The 1994 Republicans wanted to eliminate government programs. Today, they propose and create them. The 1994 Republicans held themselves and Congress to a higher ethical standard. Today, they seem more interested in protecting their jobs than protecting the people they serve."

Luntz claims that 10% of the Republican base-- and this is pre-Foley-- had decided not to vote for them November 7. "The scandal involving Mark Foley is, for some voters, the final straw-- not as much because of what Foley did but because of how the congressional Republican leadership handled it, or, shall I say, mishandled it. For a party that built so much support from its principle of accountability in government, the utter lack of accountability and the constant blame shifting is stunning."