Just some personal thoughts for the Board...

In less than three weeks we may see congress fall to the Democrats. By all accounts, the public's opinion of the GOP is at its lowest level in two decades.

While some may point to multiple corruption scandals and the Foley debacle, the real problem for the Republicans is pretty simple to state...Iraq.

Since George Bush declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq some three and a half years ago, we have become mired in a quagmire that offers no light at the end of the tunnel. Indeed, the mess in Iraq threatens to destabilize the entire middle east. And while no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, the American public is now keenly aware of our impotence in keeping such weapons out of the hands of the Iranians and the North Koreans.

Before invading Iraq, I told this Board it was a bad idea - that it would not serve the best long term interests of the American people. This has largely been proven correct and now the vast majority of Americans recognize Iraq was a terrific foreign policy blunder born of naivete, arrogance and incompetence.

So now those responsible are about to pay the political price for this nonsense. It didn't have to happen this way.

For the record, my politics tend to the center. I am just as apt to vote for a moderate Republican as I am for a moderate Democrat. But this election I will vote only for Democrats just so we can restore the checks and balances so essential for a democracy to function. George Bush needs to be held accountable for his failures. This is only possible if the other party is in power in the congress. I believe this same sentiment is shared by millions of other Americans and for this reason, they too will vote for Democrats in November.

The Presidency of George Bush had once held great promise. But now instead, it will be remembered best for Iraq and Katrina. It will go down as one of the worst presidencies in American history. There is nothing Bush can do now to rescue his legacy. One hopes that future presidencies will find the lessons of the Bush presidency instructive and we will have learned to avoid repeating history.