If it should come to pass, by the time of the election, that it is obvious to everyone (except a few remaining Bushbots) that he lied intentionally-would that not count as a total discrediting of the man? And also of the party, if they keep on making excuses for him. I think that the Republicans would be best served in leading the investigation, and making sure it was honest. If it comes out that it was an intentional lie, so be it. They should dump him to save themselves.
Of course, they could do what Tony Blair is doing-blaming underlings for feeding him false information. Who knows, maybe the public will believe that.
Yes it would. But political reality is that such hearings will never come to pass before the election as Republicans control both houses- at least not open hearings. If the war is still dragging on with a 3-5 killings a week of our troops and the economy is still anemic or worse then Bush is gone. And then you will have hearings that might lay waste to the Republican party. Yes- it is a good idea for Republicans to lead such an investigation now. Will they? No.