[Maelstorm]

I don't think that is the case. They played a role but we must not forget that there has not been a President in recent memory that has been hated and targeted the way the liberal media has President Bush. I still believe that he is responsible for not standing up to them and calling them to the floor when they labeled our soldiers "nazis" and painted the whole military with the abu graib scandal just to win political points. He is also responsible for not understanding the seriousness of the illegal immigration problem. The biggest mistake was not really taking credit for anything till the last weeks before the election.

Republicans have deserved to lose for sometime but the Democrats did not deserve to win. The difference is that when we spoke he listened on Harriet Myers, he listened on Dubai Ports, and he listened somewhat on the Border Fence.
Now we have a group in there that will not listen. Just wait till Justice Stevens retires. There will be some fireworks then.

[BW2221]

You have defined much of the problem - Bush let the media define him (and did it ever).

I thing Bush's first term was far more successful than the past two years. He has lost support in every area (including his base). It doesn't help much that he's the worst spoken president for the last 25 years with the possible exception of his dad).

[OldFriend]

What were the voters running away from when republicans lost mega numbers of seats during klinton's second term and Newt resigned?