It Must Really Be True

When the Dean of the Washington punditocracy, David Broder, determines that the Republicans are in deep doo-doo, it must be so.

I had dinner one night with a group of Ohio Republicans, all with many years of experience in state politics and none directly engaged in this year's gubernatorial race. One of them said, "I'm afraid this could be another 1982," a year when recession pushed unemployment to 15 percent and cost the Republicans the governorship. Another said, "I'd settle right now for another 1982. I'm afraid it will be another 1974," the year of the Watergate election, when Democrats swept everything in sight.

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The reason was explained in blunt terms by the Republican governor of one of the states where a congressman of his party is struggling for statewide office. "What has this Congress done that anyone should applaud?" he asked scornfully. "Nothing on immigration, nothing on health care, nothing on energy -- and nothing on the war. They deserve a good kick in the pants, and that's what they're going to get."

A conservative friend dismissed the Democratic hopes of having another sweep like the 1994 Republican "revolution" by saying, "Sorry, it's not going to be 1994 again." He may be right -- but not in the way he thinks.