It's astonishing, really: The Republican Party's presidential candidates have lost the popular vote to Democrats in three straight presidential elections, yet if this happens a fourth time on November 2, Republicans are still going to insist they aren't doing anything wrong and don't have to make any changes in the future. That's what Elizabeth Bumiller says in this article in today's New York Times.

A couple of days ago, David Brooks said in the Times that

Some Democrats have been unable to face the reality that people have been voting for Republicans because they agree with them....

According to this theory, Republicans - or usually some omniscient, omnipotent and malevolent strategists, like Lee Atwater or Karl Rove - have been tricking the American people into voting against their true interests....

The truth, at least in presidential elections, is the exact opposite: Republicans think everyone in America is a Republican except for small contingents of Brie-eating coastal elitists and throwback sandal-wearing peaceniks, but every four years we hold a presidential election and more Americans vote for the Democrat. And it could very well happen again. So when we mock George W. Bush's inability to admit he's ever made a mistake -- which we should do as often as possible -- we should remember that it's a fault he shares with his entire party.