I beg to differ a little. Tom DeLay has written a book supposedly exposing the GOP lack of leadership and infighting--Rush is having him on today. Have only heard some of the things he professes, but I have to tell you I agree with a lot of it.
For instance, Newt Gingrich--great ideals; great writer, teacher, speaker when talking conservatism. In reality, he ran off in all directions as speaker. There were many times when I was disappointed in his deeds and words--i.e. when Newt said Bill Clinton could change his(Newt's) mind and make him see Clinton's way of thinking-complimenting Clinton's persuasion. He did this in an admiring way and more or less said Clinton could make him cave on issues.Also, having the baggage he came to Wash. with in his personal life, Newt then had an affair with a staffer when he should have been tending to business.
Denny Hastert was a disappointment from the getgo--weak kneed and a compromiser too quickly. Cannot think of any instance of strong leadership.
DeLay also mentions Armey's infighting to be speaker, and all of them not standing up to the Dems--and we have all seen that. We're seeing it now.
Tom DeLay is the only Republican besides McConnell I can think of since Haley Barber ran the RNC that could consistently name the problem and call the Dems on it. The leaders stood by and let him be pilloried--it was mostly a case of Ronnie Earl aided by Dems pushing accusations about paying his family, etc. that most of both sides were doing. They let Gingrich be hanged, too, until he resigned.
That said, I agree with those on here faulting Bush for caving on almost everything. He should have vetoed the Campaign Finance Bill. I'm virtually sure that his advisers told him not to do it because of media reaction. Like Mitch McConnell, who fought it tooth and nail, they thought it would surely be knocked down by the SC, but the SC said, yeah, it impinged on free speech, but given the evils of too much campaign money, they thought curtailing free speech was better. Right now, McConnell is the only Repub I can think of with a strong backbone and pretty clear vision. The only Repub I can think of wanting to vote for in 08 is Fred Thompson--I pray he runs.
vaudine
However, the fact remains that the Left and the Democrat Party must be defeated.
I don't know much about Fred Thompson, though what I know I like, and I know nothing about Mitch McConnell, but if your appraisal of them is as dependable as the appraisals given in your analysis, they're men to watch.
George Bush and the current Republican leadership are a big disappointment, but we cannot allow this to cloud our judgment; the Democrats are far worse, and they must be defeated.
Keep your smart analyses coming as time progresses. We'll be looking for them here on FR.