Why Bother

There is a hot race for the Republican presidential nomination but a recent WSJ/NBC poll makes one wonder why they are even bothering.
Republicans' Outlook Dims for '08

WASHINGTON -- The race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination has become wide open, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows. But the value of winning it has fallen sharply.

The survey shows that without formally entering the race, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has risen to second place in the Republican field. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to leak support, but leads the pack with 29% to Mr. Thompson's 20%, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has pulled even with Sen. John McCain at 14%.

Of greater concern for Republicans generally, however, is the party's weak state heading into the 2008 election. By 52% to 31%, Americans say they want Democrats to win the presidency next year.

Americans give the Republican Party their most negative assessment in the two-decade history of the Journal/NBC survey, and by 49% to 36% they say the Democratic Party more closely shares their values and positions on the issues.

George W. Bush's legacy - the end of the Republican Party?

The party's woes can be partly traced to the political decline of President Bush. His approval rating in the Journal/NBC survey has fallen to its lowest ever, 29%, while 66% of Americans disapprove of his performance. The telephone survey of 1,008 adults, conducted June 8-11, has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

Joe Gandelman wonders if -

Unless something changes GWB will likely go down in history as the person who decimated the Ronald Reagan Republican revolution coalition.

While it's easy to blame George W. Bush personally it's really the failed ideology of the neocons and theocons who had his ear. Even if the Republicans attempt to distance themselves from the failed administration of the Bush/Cheney cabal it will be difficult if not impossible to distance themselves from the failed ideology. Of course they have an economy problem as well. After six years of the Bush/Republican "booming economy" a majority of the American people now realize the boom has passed them by.