The new Republican colors image:37093:0::0

Many senior administration members such as Carl Rove have already abandoned the sinking ship but last Wednesday Congressman Tom Davis from Virginia became the fifth Republican in a week to announce that he will not try for reelection. That brings the total Republican bug-outs to 28, one of the highest numbers on record.

Currently there are 232 Democrats and 199 Republicans in the house. With only five Democratic seats in contested races the incumbent exodus makes it extremely unlikely that the Republicans can retake the House any time soon.

David Wasserman, an analyst for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report says:

The open-seat situation is so lopsided as to deny Republicans any chance of taking back the House in 2008.

Even better news for the country is that the Republicans are lagging dramatically in fund raising having raised a paltry $5 million compared to the Democrat's $35 million. To make matters worse, for the Republicans, is that they already owe $2 million in debt.

Reflecting on the tight spot that the Republicans are in Representative Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee said

"It is a challenge. What this does is make it more difficult to have offensive opportunities when you have to defend what you have.

Mr Cole believes that party's chief hope is for John McCain to win the presidential nomination because his message of amnesty for illegal aliens and his plans to overhaul immigration policy so as to grant permanent legal residency for illegals, may help attract Hispanic voters.

However this plan could backfire since most Republican Congressmen run on an anti-immigrant ticket which would make voting for an anti-immigrant Representative and a pro-immigrant President at the same time very unlikely.

The departing Mr. Davis has a reputation as a fairly liberal Republican who occasionally even challenged the Bush administration which makes it very likely that his middle class suburban district will fall to the Democrats in the next election. Davis says that the prospect of serving in a minority party was one of the factors that prompted his decision to leave. He admits that things do not look too good for the GOP in the next election. He said:

There isn't any question it is going to be a tough year

In addition to Mr. Davis place the Democrats are also confident that they can win seats in Illinois New Jersey, New York and Ohio.

Movement Conservatives are very worried that the always fragile and ideologically confused Republican coalition is in danger of shattering. The collation is made up of some very strange bedfellows indeed and can be roughly divided into four camps.

One is made up of Evangelical "values voters," who favor enforcing their morality through legislation. These people are at odds with the Libertarians who oppose laws restricting personal behavior.

Then there the neocon war hawks who favor putting their foreign adventures on the national credit card and running up huge deficits. They are not only opposed by the Evangelicals, many of whom are becoming increasingly anti-war, but the traditional "Business Conservatives who favor lower taxes and a reduced deficit. Many of the Business Conservatives are also rather liberal on social issues so that makes them a poor match for the Evangelicals.

Needless to say the Democrats are not sad to see the Republicans go. Representative Christopher Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, reflecting on the Republican exodus said:

Clearly, it's a sign that they see no prospect of Republicans regaining control of the House in the near future, and in fact the trend seems to be heading in the other direction.

The good news in the Senate is that the retirement of six Republicans leaves their seats vulnerable while there are no Democratic seats opening up this cycle.

Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee summed up the changing political landscape saying:

We are still nine months away, and things just keep getting better.

This is indeed good news for America, battered and bleeding from seven years of disasters under the incompetent Bush administration. With the Democrats poised to take not only the House and Senate but the White House as well there is a very good chance that the "Reagan Revolution" has finally met the Contras and is coming to an ignominious end.

If this is the case then it will finally be "Morning in America."