The Democratic Party begins its offensive. Tom "Butter Wouldn't Melt in my Mouth" Daschle feigns wide-eyed innocence at any implication that they would stab Bush in the back now, before blaming (in all seriousness) the current economic condition on Bush's tax cuts.

There will be a lot more of this next year, and of course, the best examples of Democratic kneecapping will show up here. This has been in the works long before Sept. 11, but the Democrats are only now feeling safe enough to start the barrage.

Of course the key phrase in this article is the last one:

...The big question is whether the GOP will, as usual, stand around and huff as the Democrats play dirty pool and win, or whether it will return fire for once.

The Republicans have an unenviable record of wussing out in these fights. There are many reasons for this, some having to do with politics, and some having to do with the weak philosophical underpinnings of the Republican Party, which are severely contaminated with the assumptions of its opponent.

A good article on this subject is Collier and Horowitz's "It's A War, Stupid!" which, unfortunately, does not appear to be on the web in its entirety. I may scan it in sometime.

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Huh? What war did you think I was talking about?