Deputy Attorney General nominee Timothy Flanagan's name is withdrawn after his connections to Jack Abramoff are revealed.
The anti-torture bill is passed by the Senate 90-9 (Texas' John Cornyn is one of the nine voting in favor of torture). The president, stubborn as ever, will veto it anyway.
Hurricane-relief contracts awarded with little or no competitive bidding will be done over.
Bush finally gives up on Social Security reform and additional tax cuts. For the time being.
Tom DeLay fielded a second indictment, and Karl Rove is about to catch his first.
Did I forget to mention that the GOP is tearing itself in two over the nomination of Harriet Miers? Or that two polls now show Bush's support has eroded into the 30's?
It's hard to believe that things could get worse for the ruling party in the days and weeks to come. But they could, if gas prices don't recede, if more of our soldiers continue to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, if someone in addition to Rove gets indicted, if we suffer another terror event ...There's about a year for the Republicans to regain their footing, along with some semblance of credibility with the electorate, of course. Several people who know more about this sort of thing than me sense a shift in the political landscape of historic proportions.
I come down on the side of history (and my confidence in that outcome will naturally depend on the minority party's candidates doing their part in the next twelve months to present a viable alternative).
