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Grim Old Party
By Robert D. Novak Monday, September 3, 2007; Page A15
During the summer, a female acquaintance of mine in her 70s who had been a faithful Republican during her long life received a GOP telephone solicitation as a previous contributor to the party. Not this time. She informed the fundraiser that President Bush's position on immigration was the last straw. She would not give the Republicans another dime.
Such a rebuff, commonplace for Republican fundraisers today, puts a human face on cold Federal Election Commission statistics showing a commanding Democratic lead in raising money for the 2008 elections. This unusual disparity is at once a symptom and a contributing cause of the melancholy suffusing the Grand Old Party.
As measured by offices held, Republicans have been in much worse shape during my half-century of reporting in Washington. The party was a mere remnant after the Democratic landslides of 1958, 1964 and 1974. But never have I seen morale so low. While Republican support for an unpopular war has remained remarkably strong, almost all the non-war news during the dreary August recess has been bad for the GOP. The hope is that the eventual elevation of a presidential candidate will revive the party's spirits.
The week before Labor Day, when nothing of importance was supposed to happen, brought bad news even as it appeared nothing worse was possible:
? The apparent disgrace of Sen. Larry Craig, a former member of the party leadership, was all the worse because several Republican senators and staffers were not a bit surprised. That raises two questions. If so many people knew Craig was an accident waiting to happen, why was he not eased out of office? How many other examples of possibly scandalous behavior are known but hidden?
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