The leadership in the House ahd become moribund and mired in the Illinois-style politics which Dennis Hastert — who, incidently is my Representative — imposed on the House.
Republicans failed to learn what the Democrats should have learned... hatred of your opponent will only get you 45% of the vote. When Republicans kept saying "oh Speaker Pelosi... the horror", that'll only motivate so many voters.
Republicans should have pushed to make the tax cuts permanents, supported Bush's social security reform, took control of the border. They really failed to make any progress while they had substainial control.
Welcome to my world. Newt was mine.
During the Foley incident, Hastert looked old, fat, sick and VERY slow on his feet. IMHO, that stopped the momentum that the Party had gained in September. But it showed a deeper problem, which is that the party tore its pants straddling such moral issues as gay marriage and, of course, the pork issue. By refusing to act after the Abramoff revelation, by its inability to put up even the appearence of reform, you get a mess. So who do YOU want as speaker?
Well, Nancy Congress here we come.
This will be bad bad bad in so many ways ... we forget that the conservatives had wilderness *decades* without any real power, because of the power the House wields in the Democr*p hands.
Be very afraid.