Why the Democrats aren't hopeless

Because Republicans are still Republicans. The invaluable Gene Lyons sums it up well in The deficit blame game Salon 02/03/10:

If President Obama's recent face-to-face meeting with congressional Republicans had been a prizefight, they'd have stopped it: Obama by TKO. It was such a mismatch that Fox News, unofficial network of the GOP, basically conceded defeat by cutting away 20 minutes before it ended. Other networks showed it all.

Republicans appeared to make the elementary mistake of believing their own ... um, propaganda. Believe it or not, Obama's use of Teleprompters has convinced GOP stalwarts that he's kind of thick. I get frequent e-mails to that effect from people who marveled at the wit and wisdom of George W. Bush.

I know, I know. That's what they think, is all I'm saying.

House Republicans shouldn't have allowed the encounter to be televised. But then believing their own disinformation is basically what makes them Republicans.

As genuinely badly as the Democrats have been stumbling over their own unwillingness to be Democrats, the Republican Party has some amazingly unattractive features. Next time you see Senate Minority Leader Growling Mitch McConnell on TV, stop and listen to him a bit. If Hollywood casting were looking for a mean old man, they would pass on McConnell because he would seem so over the top in the role. A Party whose face to the public includes a character like that isn't in a completely enviable electoral position this year.

Tags: republicans