I don't know, Frank, I think there are some cracks developing in the Republican rank-and-file. A little story.

Friend of mine, interesting guy, Harvard Ph. D. in Anthropology, made his money by homesteading land in the Bahamas after college. Lives in a wealthier area a couple of miles from me, one of those places which has a 5 acre minimum lot and in the '50s banned sale to Asians, et. al. He purchased his place in the late '60s, and it's more modest by a couple of million than most.

Has a small orchard. I have a small chain-saw. Volunteered to help prune the orchard before he headed off to the Bahamas for 3 or so months. He does that when his wife's "honey-do" list gets too long, as she stays here. Has to sell some more land, he says.

His neighbor is Republican, a retired guy who is amiably alcoholic. I've never seen him sober, but he's friendly, manages. He drove by while we were cutting, and pulling and stacking, got out of his car and BSed a bit.

No one was talking politics. I wouldn't up there, for one thing. The guy volunteered, all on his own,

"For the first time in 99 years I think I'm going to have to vote for a Democrat. I just don't like what's happening to the country."

And that guy is the Republican base. Don't know if he would, but he's thinking about it. As are several other Rs I know. I haven't seen the energy there was to end the Clinton era that the Rs had in 2000. And it could be a problem for the Rs if their middle shifts a bit toward the Ds. After all, in 2000 GWB got 500,000 fewer votes than Gore, and those people are still there.

Now, that's not for our HZers. They are as enthusiastic as ever, and still eager to end the Clinton era. Clinton, powerful man that he was and is, seems to be responsible for everything that happens even now.

And, we haven't seen GWB spend his $200 million yet. That will change some things, as will another terrorist act, if it isn't stopped.

Arf