The [GOP's] policies were not conservative, that was the problem. It got harder and harder to defend republicans who were acting more like fiscal liberals than fiscal conservatives.

For a significant part of the Republican electorate, I know, the GOP's shameless and incorrigible fiscal incontinence was a primary grievance. . .but the medieval-style beat-downs visited upon the GOP in 2006 and 2008 were the result of a lot more than just the Party's spendthrift ways and the "Cult of Barack Obama."

In fact, I'm much more inclined to attribute the rise of Barack Obama to the decline of the Republican Party than to see things the other way around. I mean. . . he's a charismatic speaker and a brilliant organizer and all. . .but, c'mon. Take a step back, for a moment, and look at the broad sweep of American political history. . . remember that every Democratic President since John F. Kennedy -on the rare occasions we've actually managed to elect one- has been a middle-aged white guy from somewhere deep in the South. . . the last Democratic President, Bill Clinton, left office with a 66% approval rating, but even he couldn't get himself elected President by a clear majority. . . fix those facts in your mind, as perspective. . .and try to imagine, objectively, the sequence of Republican political catastrophes required to account for the Democratic Party's nomination -and the country's decisive election- of a liberal black law professor from Chicago whose last name sounds like "Osama" and whose middle name is "Hussein!"

. . .trust me. . . all of that didn't just happen because the GOP spent too much money.