Downfall of the GOP

On the annual trip to DC, I found one of the best articles ever in Politico that has me looking ahead to a new period of Democratic dominance. The fog is lifting, and the blue visibility stretches to at least 2014. Here are some highlights (but read the whole article!):

Looks like GOP recruitement and fundraising is down:

Some of the party's top recruits in key races from Colorado to Florida are refusing to run for Congress. Business executives -- the financial backbone of the GOP -- are sending more and more money to Democrats. Overall Republican fundraising is down sharply from the same time frame during the past two presidential elections.

And what about the people of this great country...

Polling data released this month confirm what GOP officials are picking up anecdotally: Swing voters are swinging away from Republicans at high velocity. Most alarming to GOP strategists is a new survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center that found 50 percent of those interviewed consider themselves a Democrat or leaning that way; only 35 percent tilt Republican.

So, America's coming to its senses, and Republicans have written off the 2008 race. What ever will their consultants do?

To underscore how tough things are for the GOP, Bill Pascoe, a Chicago-based Republican consultant with Urquhart Media, said "there are Republican consultants scouting state legislators for 2014. That's how far the long-range planning is going."

Why 2014? Because that would be the second midterm of a Democratic president.

THAT'S RIGHT... 2014 is when they think they can hop back on the train. Life feels so much better now than a few years ago when we watched the Kerry-Edwards campaign derail! So is there any saving grace for the Grand Old Party? How about this strategy penned by former Republican chair Ken Mehlman:

"We have to win back the confidence we lost in '06 from swing voters and ticket splitters," said Mehlman. "The way you do that, in part, is by being a party that is less reliant on white guys and expands its support among Hispanics, among African-Americans."

Hmmmm... I think we know how that's going to work for the Republican Party. My response to this is two-fold:
1. Why didn't Mehlman reach out to minorities when he was chairman? And,
2. Maybe they should try an alternative approach: give up and encourage Americans to vote for Democrats.

I'm looking out over the horizon, and the Big Skies are BLUE. To 2014!