OUT OF TOUCH

Let's see ... we have John McCain saying that in Iraq there's no Plan B (i.e., no reasonable alternative to the surge); we have Rudy Giuliani's campaign boasting that his advisors include a surge architect, General Jack Keane, as well as John Bolton; and we have Fred Thompson writing that the Bush tax cuts are simply wonderful for the economy. All of this at a time when polls show that people hate the war and are extremely anxious about the economy.

So, er, when do we start getting all the articles telling us that the Republican Party is dangerously in thrall to extremists in its rank and file and therefore hopelessly out of touch with real Americans?

And shouldn't all those articles be telling us with a sneer that the real problem is the "Bushite wing" of the GOP, which is dragging the party down?

That's what we heard for years and years about the Democrats: that too many Dems were in thrall to the "McGovernite wing" of the party, and the party would never reconnect with the general public until it rejected the throwbacks and lunatics in that wing. We still hear that fairly often.

Yes, we're being told that the GOP is in trouble, but the press doesn't want to identify any subset of Republicans as the problem -- whereas demonizing the crazy hippies was (and is) great fun for the press.

And, of course, once Rudy or St. John or Fred (or Mitt) is the nominee, we'll hear about what a fresh face the GOP now has (yes, even if it's McCain -- he is, after all, a "maverick"); we'll hear how ideologically eclectic the new guy is. We won't hear about the pandering to the crazies. And when the new guy is president and still panders to the crazies, the press will be just stunned.