Usually, it is right after the elections that we get the predictable glut of stories wondering whether the Democrats or Republicans can survive, depending on who just won. Peggy Noonan jumps a little ahead of the news cycle:
The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They're busy being born. The Republicans? Busy dying.
Ms. Noonan has fallen into the all too frequently sprung trap of interpolating a trend forever based on the last couple of data points, not to mention that it is far from obvious that Hillary is going to be such a gracious team player. But, hey, that Maverick™ brooch you get to wear by criticizing your own does get you invitations to the best parties.
Not being a Republican, I only care to the extent that something has to balance the Democrats, if only to keep them moderately honest. In St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington, DC, I've seen enough of local governments utterly dominated by one party to know it isn't a good thing. Anyway, anybody who thinks the Republicans are doomed need to read the stories written about the Tories in Great Britain about five years ago. These would be the same Tories that just kicked Labour's butt and are threatening to make Gordon Brown their shortest serving Prime Minster since Harold Wison's second term, though a better reference might be to Alec Douglas-Home more than forty years ago since Harold Wilson resigned for health reasons, rather than losing an election. Interestingly enough, Harold Wilson's first term came at the expense of Alec Douglas-Home. But I digress.
There's plenty to despise when it comes to the current crop of elected Republicans and the Republican Party right now, but let's not get carried away. Is anybody really that excited about a triumvirate of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama running the country? And do you really think they'll do such a bang up job that their future's won't be on the line in 2010 and 2012?