DOES THE GOP HAVE A FUTURE? YES-- A VERY, VERY BLEAK ONE

When low-info voters ask me who I'm for, I know they're talking about the presidential race. That one isn't my biggest concern. I'm not enthusiastic about any of the candidates although, symbolically Hillary or Obama would be a step in the right direction. Other than symbolically, it's all going to come down to choosing the ole lesser of two evils. And since the Democrats running are so much the lesser evils than the Republicans running... well, my mind's made up. I'll vote for Hillary against McCain in the general. Now I have to get to work on what's important to me: the 2008 congressional races. But my low-info pals don't want to let go that fast. I mean they don't talk about congressional races on the teevee, just the presidential personalities. But it's simple: Americans are sick of the Republicans and have woken up to their bullshit and, despite themselves, the Democrats will win. Short of Al Sharpton, any Democrat will beat any Republican.

You don't believe me? Today's L.A. Times is reporting that affinity to the GOP and to Republican values has been in a steady and decline for 5 years. All it took was one year of George Bush.

The survey, by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for People and the Press, found a "dramatic shift" in political party identification since 2002, when Republicans and Democrats were at rough parity. Now, half of those surveyed identified with or leaned toward Democrats, while only 35% aligned with Republicans.

What's more, the survey found the public attitudes are drifting toward Democrats' values: Support for government aid to the disadvantaged has grown since the mid-1990s, skepticism about the use of military force has increased and support for traditional family values has edged down.

Those findings suggest that Republicans' political challenges reach beyond the unpopularity of the war in Iraq and Bush.

The country is becoming more tolerant, which is always bad news for a regime based on fear and authoritarianism. The identification between the GOP and George Bush could prove to be as debilitating for Republicans as was the identification with Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, two conservative presidents-- neither nearly so extreme as Bush-- who ushered in 2 decades of Democratic political domination.