Out with the old

Digby has a post on incumbents losing primaries. First we had Lieberman and then we had Frank Murkowski who should have been a political icon in Alaska.

Frank Murkowski isn't just some obscure Alaskan nobody --- he was a US Senator for 22 years, a member of the most exclusive club in the world, from one of the most reliable red states. In small (population) states like Alaska, he should have been an iconic figure who stayed in office until he was forced out by term limits or death. For years he had the backing of the most important industries in the state as well as the religious right, the NRA and the Alaska GOP. And yet, he couldn't get over 20% in the Republican primary this year. And the woman who won ran against the Republican establishment.

I am really beginning to think that things are going to be even worse for the Republicans than the current polls would indicate. People are really tired of the status quo and they are ready for a change. They think we have lost the war in Iraq and they heard nothing new from George W. Bush this week - just more "stay the course". And we have this:
Christian Coalition losing chapters

Three disgruntled state affiliates have severed ties with the Christian Coalition of America, one of the nation's most powerful conservative groups during the 1990s but now buffeted by complaints over finances, leadership and its plans to veer into nontraditional policy areas.

"It's a very sad day for our people, but a liberating day," said John Giles, president of the coalition's Alabama chapter, which announced Wednesday that it was renaming itself and splitting from the national organization. The Iowa and Ohio chapters took similar steps this year.

Giles said he and his Alabama colleagues have "a dozen hard reasons" for the action but would elaborate on only one — a perception that the coalition's leadership was diverting itself from traditional concerns such as abortion and same-sex marriage to address other issues ranging from the environment to Internet access.

Giles predicted further defections and said the coalition was now left with only a half-dozen strong state chapters and a weak presence in Washington.

Now the Republicans have taken control of the Congress and the White House on the backs of the religious right and it was the Christian Coalition that got it's members to the polls. Now these people won't vote for Democrats but if they are not fired up they will just stay home. Everyone else is just fed up. They don't like the direction the country is headed. Many Republicans don't like the very un-Republican direction of the Republican legislative behavior and corruption. This from lifelong Republican John Cole yesterday.

As many of you are aware, I have soured on this administration, and in general, the Republican leadership. On a daily basis I look at the hardliners in my party, and feel like they are not even speaking the same language as I am. I still, however, do not feel like the Democratic party is my home, but I can say that I am the least hostile to the Democratic party that I have been for years.

And one of the main reasons for that is the Democrats have not, by and large, been doing stupid things. Sure, we have a Howard Dean flare-up here and there, and every now and then we have an outburst from Kennedy or McKinney, but for the most part, the Democrats have silenced their crazies and have been content to sit back and watch the GOP make asses of themselves.

And of course the while the Republican voters are not fired up the Democrats are.