LAST NIGHT'S BIG LOSER: GEORGE W BUSH, THE PARTY LEADER NO ONE WOULD STAND UP FOR

Tancredo's lurid Karl Rove story was the most dramatic, but basically all of the 10 little old white dwarves told Bush not to ever darken the White House door again January 2009. Even crazy old grandpa McCain pulled his head out of Bush's ass long enough to blame the catastrophe in Iraq on "mismanagement," although he didn't specifically mention that Miss Manager is also The Decider. Thompson seemed to shock the Republican audience when the question was posed by Blintzer about what they would do with Bush if they were to become president. Although neither Thompson nor any of the dwarves brought up the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, Thompson did say "I would certainly not send him to the United Nations."

Even the far right Moonie Times, normally the Regime's biggest apologists, admits this morning that "Bush took a bruising... It was the harshest the candidates have been as a group toward Mr. Bush so far in this campaign and the criticism comes as the president is feuding with conservatives, whom he accused last week of trying to 'frighten people' over immigration."

The Boston Globe was less kind to the now universally despised lame duck. "Republican presidential candidates last night professed their love for God, country, and family-- but not for President Bush-- as they argued with one another on matters ranging from immigration to energy policy and the war in Iraq... there was little affection displayed for Bush, who several candidates said is wrong on immigration, mishandled the post-invasion phase in Iraq, and lacks diplomatic skills." The Globe pointed out that more-or-less-hometown candidate Romney said Bush's regime was "underprepared and underplanned," for what they wrought in Iraq-- and for an illiterate corporate nerd like Romney there can be few less damning words.

The L.A. Times was on the same page as the Globe: the Republican would-be presidents "harshest rhetoric was aimed at a surprising off-stage target: President Bush."

The rift between the White House and some fellow Republicans has grown increasingly pronounced in recent days as the president has promoted an immigration overhaul that is anathema to many party conservatives.

But criticism of the incumbent extended beyond that volatile issue, encompassing the war in Iraq and the administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina."

Huckabee went even further, throwing Republicans in Congress, which included quite a few of his colleagues on the stage, under the bus: he said "the party "deserved to get beat" in the 2006 election... We've lost credibility, the way we bungled Katrina, the fact that there was corruption that was unchecked in Washington, and the fact that there was a feeling that there was not a proper handling of the Iraqi war," along with "indifference to people pouring over our borders."

The rupture between Bush and his own party's White House hopefuls on a stage here at St. Anselm College underscored the foul political climate facing Republicans as they try to retain the White House in 2008 amid an unpopular war that has badly damaged the GOP brand.

The Concord Monitor summed it up best in the opening paragraph of their coverage: "They stand against gays serving openly in the military and agree that English should be the nation's official language, but many of the Republicans at last night's presidential debate had one surprising thing in common with Democrats who debated Sunday: They frequently spoke of President Bush as a foe, or at closest an arms-length ally. Bush came under sharper attack at last night's Republican debate at St. Anselm College in Goffstown than he did at Sunday night's Democratic debate. Asked by a member of the audience to name where they part ways with the Bush administration, the contenders criticized the president on the war, spending, accountability and vision, among other things."

And the Des Moines register pointed out that although there was no clear winner, there certainly was a clear loser: Bush.


UPDATE: AND IT ISN'T ONLY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES WHO WISH BUSH WOULD DISAPPEAR

According to Evans and Novak, Bush has also fallen on hard times among the hard core Republican base. "Just when it seemed that President George W. Bush's stock could go no lower with his political base, he dropped down a little more with the sentencing of Scooter Libby. Bush's reluctance to pardon Libby compares with his stubborn support of Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales. It is hard to exaggerate the extent of Republican discontent with the President." It would be no exaggeration to say he's still a million times more popular among Republicans than he is among normal people.


UPDATE: DANGEROUS WHEN THE DECIDER IS COMPLETELY CLUELESS

Bush has always seemed to cultivate being out of touch. Tomorrow's Moonie Times shows he's still hoein' the same ground. "Bush did not intend to single out his conservative supporters for criticism in a speech on immigration reform last week and was 'surprised' that his remarks angered Republicans, White House spokesman Tony Snow said today. 'He was surprised by the reaction.'"

Bush is doing to Republican politicians who don't agree with him exactly what his venal, toxic regime has been doing to Democrats and normal Americans who haven't agreed with him. He divided the country in a more narrowly partisan way since anytime in the last century and now he's turned those Rovian charms on his own mortally wounded party.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill said that Mr. Bush seemed to be questioning their patriotism, and several conservative activists said the president was splitting the Republican Party by insulting those who have been his most loyal supporters... Snow's defense of the president's remarks shows that "the White House is in denial about this issue," said longtime conservative publicist Craig Shirley, an opinion shared by American Conservative Union Chairman David A. Keene. "The plain meaning of what he said was clear," Mr. Keene said.