Bush is doing what every front-runner always does, which is to put off engaging his rivals for as long as possible. |
Cheney has had a tight, effective team, and they have been an incredible support system for the presidency. To the degree that support system is weakened, it's a bad day at the office. But no person is indispensable. |
Gingrich has been and always will be used as a poster child for bad stuff by Democrats. On the other hand, Newt's motto has always been if you're not out on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
I don't think anyone is hitting the panic button. But there is an acute recognition of the grim environment that both parties are operating in. |
I think he's wisely seizing an opportunity to speak to two audiences. The first is his constituents in Massachusetts that are his primary responsibility as governor of Massachusetts, but the second is the greater world of Republican primary voters. |
If anybody honestly and truly believes that because some corporation throws a member a party that the member is in their pocket, they go to the Oliver Stone school of politics. |
If some larger-than-life personality -- let's say Colin Powell -- decided he wanted to launch a third-party candidacy for some office, I think he'd be an impact player. But he's not running. |
If the Democrats had any leadership or any message, they could be poised for a good year. But in the absence of that, they have not been able to capitalize on Republican woes. Because of the size of the GOP majority, Democrats have to run the board, and I don't see that happening. |
There's a certain message that resonates with the Republican base, and most of it centers around spending, taxes and values. |
To use an unfortunate metaphor, Iraq is a roadside bomb in American politics. |
We are in a pitched battle for survival in this mid-term election. We have virtually lost the saliency of the cutting-government-spending issue as one of the core issues for the Republican Party. We need to make this issue go back and work for us again. |