"I actually thought along these lines in recent days, that the Republicans --- faced with big problems of public opinion and media lies on the subject of Iraq --- might have pulled a kind of political jiu-jitsu ..."
I admit, a couple days after the voting I felt the same. Everything just went too smoothly .. the big wave of Republican voters didn't show up, no one contested the many voting problems, there was no fight... it just came off too easily. Maybe Rove IS that magnificient "B"... ? I don't know, but something is up.
Great Grandma in Michigan
It could be that way (a planned Republican tactical defeat). On the other hand, it could also be that W, like his father before him, just got tired of fighting and didn't really try that hard. In '92, HW clearly lost interest and let the Klintoon win by default.