CAPITOL HILL REPUBLICANS FEAR THAT NOVEMBER 2008 WILL BE EVEN WORSE THAN THE 2006 ELECTION WAS FOR THEM-- THEY'RE RIGHT

Public opinion has caught up with Bush and if his job approval ratings continue falling at even half the rate they have been for the last 2 years, by election day, 2008, they will be in the mid-teens. The concept of "rubber stamp Republican" is very hard to duck when years and years of voting records are now easily accessed by the public. Voting records have been very hard to find in the past and it now takes two or three clicks of a mouse to find out if your congressman or senator really was the "independent voice" he or she claimed to be or just a complete Bush Regime rubber stamp. Take a look at the voting records of John Cornyn (R-TX), Larry Craig (R-ID), James Inhofe (R-OK), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Miss McConnell (R-KY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), John Sununu (R-NH), and Pete "Sneaky Pete" Domenici (R-NM). Not only do they look fairly identical, each could have been just cast by Dick Cheney while the senator was off with his colleague David Diapers Vitter interacting with the locals.

And the House doesn't look any better for Republicans. Even with the public expressing extreme disapproval for Congress in general, it's the Republicans in Congress, particularly their obstructionism, that the public hates most of all.

The release Thursday of the latest bipartisan “Battleground 2008” survey included sobering if not alarming news for members of Congress in both parties. A majority of respondents (52 percent) disapproved of the Democratic-led Congress-- but even greater majorities disapproved of the job performances of congressional Republicans (61 percent) and President Bush (61 percent). The poll is sponsored by George Washington University and was conducted of 1,000 registered likely voters on July 15-18 by the Democratic firm Lake Research Partners and the Republican firm The Tarrance Group.

...The survey found that voters prefer Democrats to Republicans on nearly every major policy issue-- usually by wide margins. Democrats held double-digit leads over Republicans when respondents were asked which party would “do a better job of handling” the Iraq war, jobs, energy independence, the federal budget deficit, Social Security, political corruption in Washington, D.C., and health care. Republicans held a 13-percentage-point lead on combating terrorism-- the GOP’s biggest edge on any issue-- and narrow advantages over Democrats on “moral values” and curbing illegal immigration.

So when today's Hill reports anxiety inside the Beltway and despair on K Street, they are far from off base.

The same bad news — the president’s low approval ratings, opposition to the war in Iraq, and the lingering taint of congressional scandal, from the Jack Abramoff investigation to Sen. David Vitter’s (La.) involvement with the alleged “D.C. Madam” — leave observers skeptical that the GOP can dent Democratic majorities, let alone reclaim power in the next election.

“The only thing that has changed is that everything that was bad got worse,” said Bernadette Budde, political director of the Business Industry Political Action Committee. BIPAC supports business-friendly candidates of both parties, though most of the group’s donations go to Republicans.

If the election were held today, “We’d be lucky to hold our own,” one House Republican said.

Very lucky. It's more likely that they'd lose at least a couple dozen House seats and 5 or 6 senate seats-- not to mention the presidency. Despite dismal polls, horrendous fundraising, lackluster candidate recruitment, and an increasing sense of "no confidence" in Republicans, the GOP shills who talk to the media try to keep up smiley faces and paint rosy scenarios. "Privately, Republican leaders say it will take six to eight years to win back the majority, one top GOP lobbyist said, adding, 'It’s a tough environment for Republicans.'"

It will get worse. In fact... help make it worse.