By Andrew L. Jaffee

A GOP fundraiser says that many of the faithful she’s talked to have described the Bush administration’s performance as a “disaster.” In an interview last night my source said, “That’s what I’ve been hearing from a lot of people.” She works at a Republican Party call center contacting members who’ve contributed in the past.

My source read me the current script being used as talking points during calls. The schpiel urges party members to cough up some cash, help Bush through the end of his term, and prevent Democrats from pushing through their agenda. [Continues below…]

If “disaster” is the term being used by the party faithful, then I wonder if fundraising goals will be met. The “disaster” sentiment probably reflects feelings about Bush, and not necessarily other GOP candidates. But the President has certainly squandered his post-9/11 political capital. Let me count the ways — at least partially.

Iraq, Katrina, Plame-Gate, Scooter Libby, Gonzalez and the firings of US attorneys, Harriet Miers, the veterans’ hospital scandal, etc., etc.

Granted, these events were not all Bush’s fault, and he has done well on some fronts. But I’ve defended him enough in these pages. The avalanche of bad news is not atypical during a 2nd-term president’s menopause (Reagan’s Iran/Contra, Clinton’s Lewinsky). But Bush et al have shown a singular ineptness at public relations, coalition building, using the bully pulpit, and disaster recovery. They’ve been just plain horrible at politics.

I hope that Republicans learned something from the last elections, and debacles like this one:

The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday after being accused of paying a man for sex in monthly trysts over the past three years.

Will the GOP move towards the political middle, where America’s strength lays? And perhaps an even bigger question: Will Democrats do the same, especially after taking power in Congress?

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Related: United States, Elections

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