Until well into the 80s, I would regularly cross the street (a block in advance so as not to seem too "obvious" about it) the moment I saw a group of black guys coming my way. Racist? Without a doubt. And, at the time, knee-jerk. I'm not proud of it, and am just grateful that time and circumstance have changed my ways.

I think the Republicans forgot one of the basic rules of modern election campaigns: sieze the centre. Palin may have energised The Republican core constituency, but, as her true colours became evident, she put off lots of other potential voters. It will be a disaster for the Republicans if they select Palin or a Palin-type candidate next time out.

And yes, I have changed my tune.

I see Karl Rove is trying to claim some credit for the success of the Democrats campaign, suggesting that they have copied many of his methods. I think he flatters himself. Whereas this time out the Democrats have built a genuine broad-based coalition for change , Karl Rove’s main tactic was to demonise and smear the opposition. He succeeded in getting the white working class to vote against their own interests out of fear.

Rove’s true legacy is a shrinking and nasty support base that chants ill-thought out mantras that are often code for prejudice. The Republican Party no longer has any intellectual credo or credibility. It has pandered to the social conservatives and his now mired in their politics. The neocon and libertarians wings of the party must feel ill at ease now.

And unless I mistake your meaning, you have your definition of neocons wrong: Rove/Cheney/Bush is the neocons; they are the very definition of everything neocon, and the neocons worship everything about them, including their social conservatism. The neocons are only ill at ease now because they are losing.

...Hey, what if Obama were a Catholic?

That's not funny. He's a Muslim.

whiskey, I think at one time that was true, but now it's just anyone who drank the Kool Aid. Even the National Review has lost any degree of integrity it may once have had.

Also, jeremy, I should mention that libertarians are a very small segment of the U.S. population. There are many who think they are libertarian because they like to think of themselves as being something of a (dare I say it?) "maverick", but when pressed to be specific on their views they usually turn out to be something like a Reagan conservative except they believe more in the separation of church and state.

Scratch a Libretarian, find a Brown Shirt. Most of the people I've met who claim to be Libretarian want the government of their back, but have no real interest in yours.

I've never understood the "drug war." Except that a lot of people make a lot of money on it, so there's probably some kind of underground lobbying going on.