[softengine]

I like that assessment. Why do we think of these things and not them? Or did they..?

[swilhelm73]

I think unlike you or I, Republican leaders generally think that compromise is still a possibilty. Bush promised a new tone and worked his a$$ off to try and set one, only to have it thrown back in his face.

At the same time, like Reagan before him, Bush seems to believe that fighting a drawn out partisan battle back home will jeopardize the war abroad.

The ironic thing, of course, is the only way we could realistically lose the war on terror is if the Democrats succeed in demonizing it and the president.