What a marvelous and accurate observation. I may have to steal that from you. :-)
It occurs to me watching all the hype over Woodward's attempt to be the next Kitty Kelly, that the US political scene is as much DC Establishment vrs the American People as it is Republican vrs Democrat.
Just because we won in 2000, many of US Conservative have forgotten that the DC Establishment is still our blood enemy. Politics is not just Democrat vrs Republican, it is also largely a battle of the DC Establishment vrs the American people.
That best indication of that divide is John McCain and the RINO Senators. EVEN when the President is totally right, they always find a way to straddle the issue. To try and be on both sides of the issue to avoid being seen as supporting the President. That is why you hear all the rage on the Left that "the Republican Senate sold us out" to Bush over the Detainee bill . To many people in the DC Establishment it is not so much Republicans vrs Democrats but Old Boy Washington vrs the Hick Newcomers. Woodwards supposed interviews, some of which are all ready being disputed, make it pretty clear a number of old Republican politicians and operatives are running scared of the DC Political-Media Complex.
They just cannot seem to grasp that Talk Radio, the 'Net and Cable TV News is destroying their cozy little Information monopoly. They cannot seem to grasp that they can no longer be one type of politician in DC and a different one back home in Red State America. Now days people KNOW what Pols did almost as fast the Pols do it. There are no more media gatekeeper to make sure what happens in DC stays in DC
Use that analogy anytime you like.
The inside and outside beltway comment is all too true. Even good people seem to go wishy washy once they've been sucked in.
It's a political equivelent of the Bermuda Triangle. Unfortunately, when they go south, they don't disappear. They just remain to screw things up for decades.