The Long Downhill

Remember this moment in history, folks -- it's a demarcation line.

It happens to every party in power, and right now it's happening to the GOP. By their nature, parties reach and push and gain and wield power; then suddenly they make a policy missept or overestimate their importance or start taking their power for granted. And like a stock that's suddenly overvalued, the party which has thoroughly dominated and defined the political climate finds itself on the way down.

This one followed a textbook self-destruction pattern, starting with Bush pushing ill-conceived Social Security changes (policy misstep), got worse with the Terri Schiavo fiasco (overestimating their importance), and now is reaching a head with Tom DeLay's ethics violations (taking power for granted).

The bubble has burst. In a few years, we'll look back and see it clearly. The GOP had a great run, though, and they still have a chance to win back the public's favor if they make some key personnel and policy changes, but they won't get back into the zone the way they were during the first Bush term.