For Whom The Poll Tolls-- End Of The GOP?

Cheney prefers Limbaugh to Colin Powell. So does Karl Rove. And so does Limbaugh. The American people, on the other hand... Well, CNN did a scientific poll, not one of those online hackable things. If you guessed normal people prefer Powell to the 3 Stooges... well, isn't that like shooting fish in a barrel?

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Monday, suggests that 70 percent have a favorable opinion of Powell, who was Secretary of State during President George W. Bush's first term, and who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War.

Only 30 percent of those polled have a favorable view of Limbaugh, the popular conservative radio talk show host, with 53 percent saying they hold an unfavorable opinion.

In poll numbers released Thursday, 37 percent say they have a favorable opinion of Dick Cheney, with 55 percent indicating they hold an unfavorable view of the former vice president.

Among Republicans, it's a different story. The poll suggests that 66 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Cheney, 64 percent give Powell a thumbs up, and 62 view Limbaugh in a favorable way.

The pit grave the GOP has dug for itself is very straight forward. They've so poisoned the well for anything remotely mainstream that only flat out lunatics-- or those willing to put on the clown outfits and behave like lunatics-- have even a chance to win Republican primaries. And that pretty much disqualifies them from attracting mainstream voters. They'll do fine in the more backward regions of the Old Confederacy and the Mormon West. They'll keep winning in Utah County and losing in Salt Lake County; winning in Mississippi, losing in Florida; winning in Alabama even after Texas has slipped out of their grasp.