I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. gets indicted and immediately submits his resignation which is accepted - making his the quickest resignation ever for a member of the Bush Administration. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers faces opposition before the Senate hearings and withdraws her nomination before even making it to the hearings. The Bush Administration does an about-face on the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act in the Katrina affected states, mandating paying construction workers the prevailing local wage when their pay is federal money, producing a rare victory for union workers. The Bush Administration is weakening and entering lame duck status. Don’t get me wrong - the Bush Administration will achieve further reactionary conservative victories before they leave - but the Administration’s amazing effectiveness at getting its way is past, and further losses are its present and future. The united Bush GOP coalition of social conservatives and business is no longer a given. The GOP is looking at its future beyond Bush.
The Republican conspiracy of silence is over too. Republicans of all stripes rejected the patent cronyism of the Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court. Republican moderates (yes, there still are a few) pushed the reinstating of the Davis-Bacon Act so that blue collar Americans affected by the storm would be able to rebuild their communities at a fair wage. Other signs include Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s chief of staff, speaking out against the Bush Administration (and setting the stage for a future Powell run for president - an office he doesn’t deserve (also see this critique)). The publication of “Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy” by Bruce Bartlett is another sign of the conservative split. As is former Missouri Senator John Danforth’s Op-Ed a few months back.
If Democrats are smart they’ll get their act together an offer a real alternative to voters. Whether the Democrats will remains to be seen.
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