What's New? Events of the (Two) Year (Cycle)
Two years ago, there was talk of a permanent GOP majority. The president had been reelected despite an increasingly unpopular war and the GOP political machine had an air of invincibility. Then it all fell apart.
This week in the Coffee House we've been discussing what happened these past two years that so dramatically turned the political tides. Todd Gitlin, Jo-Ann Mort, Ed Kilgore, E.J. Graff, and Reed Hundt each cite major events: Katrina, Iraq, Katrina and Iraq, Katrina and Terry Schiavo, and Falluja . Mark Schmitt and Greg Anrig, on the other hand, see the political collapse as an inevitable result of the conservative movement itself; Schmitt puts the blame on their high-risk political strategy and Anrig on the wrongness of the movement's basic ideas. Steve Clemons, though, questions the premise of the conversation and argues that "until Dems forge a compelling alternative and sell that to the nation, Bush will remain powerful by default."
What do you think? Were there one, two, or five events that you think explain the difference between the politics of 2004 and the politics of 2006? Or was the difference simply the inevitable pull of gravity on the conservative machine? Or is GOP power still alive and kicking despite the midterm loss? Write up your thoughts and post them to your TPM blog. I'll add a link on this post to whoever wants to join the conversation.
