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This is laughable.

Independents mainly sat this one out. And some libertarians finally stopped voting R.

Big changes, hard work-- it's fixable.

It took us 40 years to gain control of the House and 12 years for the Dems to take it back. When they pass comprehensive immigration reform and the WH signs it, we will have given the Dems a new core constituency. We certainly won't take back the House in 2008. The Senate is a possibility.

Actually, it's not at all laughable, my FRiend. On this score (at least) Dick Morris is essentially correct. My only quibble would be with the "20-year" attribute - I don't think it will take quite that long - but it will take some time - certainly not two years, or even four for the Republicans to recover their standing with the electorate.

Much damage has been done to the Republican Party, and there is much time in the wilderness ahead, so I would suggest getting used to the idea of being a minority for a while. As an index of what has occurred, Independent voters did not fail to turn up on Tuesday - they did turn out, and in significant numbers, and voted overwhelmingly for Democrats (the figure I saw was over 60%). This is a sea change from recent voting patterns and it is indicative of a major shift in public attitude toward the Republican Party.

In brief, the Republicans came to power gradually beginning in 1980, failing briefly in '92, and then overwhelmingly in 1994. That was 12 years ago, the past three or four of which have been a Republican exercise in intellectual laziness, fiscal profligacy, ethical decay, disorganization, and lack of discipline. It doesn't matter a whit if a party is "right" on the merits of key issues: once power has wreaked its corrupting influence, the voters will take notice and act accordingly.

That is what happened on Tuesday. The Iraq war was a factor, but only because the Republican Party, having lost its formerly high standing with the electorate, lacked the ability to successfully make a case for it. The Republican Party is now widely viewed as the party of Big Government and waste, a development that would have Ronald Reagan shaking his head in sadness.

Do not kid yourselves, people - this will take a long time. 8-12 years would be my guess. The Republican Party needs a complete overhaul of its leadership and a reinvigoration of it grassroots operations. The process must begin with a restatement of core principles and ideas - Conservative principles and ideas - chief among them: limited Federal government, strong national defense, low taxes, the primacy and sanctity of human life, and secure national borders.

It's time to start.

Big changes, hard work-- it's fixable.

its very easy to fix ... the GOP needs to get back on track with its contract with America... limit government spending... its that easy.. now whether the GOP will figure it out within two years is debatable

We only need to gain 7 seats to re-take the house.

Very doable, especially in a presidential election year.

In 2004, the Dems had a record turnout, and we still beat them easily. We can do this again with the right nominee, and solid conservative congressional candidates.