Sounds like you're starting to lay in a store of excuses if things go badly for Bush in 2004. Getting a little worried?

As Tony pointed out, when you're the party out of power and the other party has a hammerlock on all four branches of government and won't share power, there's not a damn thing you can do to influence events. The best you can do is be ready to pick up the pieces after the train wreck.

Blame Bush--his brand of politics is in-your-face and divisive, which means that in political terms there's nobody with whom to share the blame when things go sour. If he showed any interest in cooperating with Democrats, he'd have a history of bipartisanship to point to in 2004. Instead, he's made it all about himself; if things go well, he wins, but if things go badly, he loses. Bush, and Bush alone.

My initial reaction to Republican glee after the elections last November is still valid: Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. You wanted absolute control of the government, you got it. Now live with the responsibility that comes with power.

--Robert