TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? START BELIEVING-- IT'S THE WILL OF GOD (FINALLY!)

The country's accountant-in-chief, Government Accountability head David Walker, is warning that the U.S. is headed for economic disaster. He says that "the American public needs to tell Washington it's time to steer the nation off the path to financial ruin... the last six years of Republican rule have produced tax cuts, record spending increases and a Medicare prescription drug plan that has been widely criticized as fiscally unsound." Still, seeing the Iraq catastrophe as a sure-fie perscription for massive GOP losses next Tuesday, the Bush Regime has been urging Republicans to run on their economic record. And, if your district has a super abundance of voters in the top .5 or maybe 1 percent of income earners (multimillionaires and above), it would be grand advice. Otherwise, the Republican economic initiatives are probably not a great idea to bring up in public.

Now today's L.A. Times claims Rove has some kind of 11th hour strategy to save the day for the far right. In short, his "plan is three-pronged: to reenergize any conservatives who may be flagging; to make sure the GOP's carefully constructed campaign apparatus is functioning at peak efficiency; and to put the resources of the federal government to use for political gain." OK, point one seems to be an unmitigated disaster-- with even die-hard far right extremist bastions like Idaho in danger of electing Democrats and with traditional Republican constituencies like rural voters and evangelicals (please read Ken's brilliant piece from earlier this morning) moving away from them. His second point is somewhat worrying if he's talking about the kind of outright election theft that was widespread in 2000 and worse in 2004.

But point three is what the L.A. Times article is all about: good old fashioned pork barrel politics. Too late. people are beyond Republican blandishments. They even understand that attempt to lower gasoline prices a month before the election was an insult to their intelligence and it seems to be backfiring against the Republicans.

Far right operative Dick Armey, once the filthy House GOP leader, now a filthy lobbyist who realizes he'll soon have to contend with pissed off progressives-- with nowhere to turn for solace except Rahm Emanuel (and that's gonna cost a lot)-- is already poking through the entrails and bones of the Republican carcass to find out where they went so drastically wrong. "The answer is simple: Republican lawmakers forgot the party's principles, became enamored with power and position, and began putting politics over policy. Now, the Democrats are reaping the rewards of our neglect-- and we have no one to blame but ourselves." It doesn't quite go far enough in explanation but it's a step in the right direction, a direction Bush, the Cheneys and Rove seem completely unaware of. January should be interesting.

And that leave Rove just that one option: stealing the election electronically. The polls are so overwhelmingly against them, that it makes it somewhat hard to do with a straight face. Do they care? I doubt it. The always upbeat Air America hosts seem to think if the American public turns out in its vast millions to vote to reject the Bush Regime's authoritarianism (for those who wince at "fascism"), then the rightists will be overwhelmed and unable to do their worst. We'll see. Right now they are desperate to create the possibility in the public's collective consciousness that all the polls-- including the Republicans' own polls-- have it wrong. Today's Wall Street Journal is carrying that torch and expect a lot of that from teh Limbaughs, Hannitys and Fox propagandists this week.