It's over.
It's been over for a while, but Republicans weren't ready to admit it, and Democrats were too nervous to say it aloud.
But it is over.
Done.
Dead.
In September, I called for A Moment of Silence for the GOP.
Some thought I was premature. Palin could hurt us. Obama did not yet have a commanding lead in the polls. What about the Bradley effect and older white voters and blue collar racists and Jews in Florida and P.O.W. and Bill Clinton and Osama Bin Laden?
In May, Republican Congressman Tom Davis said:
The Republican brand is in the trash can...if we were dog food, they would take us off the shelf.
Well, the Republican brand is no longer merely dog food; it's worm food.
And Republicans are tripping over each other to shovel dirt onto the coffin. Former members of the Bush Administration like Colin Powell and Scott McClellan. Republican royalty like CC Goldwater and Susan Eisenhower and Chris Buckley. And most of the newspapers in the country, including the ones who endorsed Bush, are backing Obama instead. Including the ones who have never endorsed a Democrat.
Even one of McCain's own advisers has jumped the sinking ship. And he probably won't be the last.
And in the Washington Post, David Frum, former Bush speech writer, calls for McCain to concede the election and at least give the downticket Republicans a fighting chance to salvage their party.
But he acknowledges it may be too late for that:
John McCain is losing in a way that threatens to take the entire Republican Party down with him.
Even people who hate Obama would still rather vote for him than the Republican ticket:
"I'm gonna hate him the minute I vote for him. He's gonna be a bad president. But I won't ever vote for another god-damn Republican. I want the government to take over all of Wall Street and bankers and the car companies and Wal-Mart run this county like we used to when Reagan was President."
Even the ones who think Obama might be a scary, foreign Muslim terrorist who is (shudder, gasp) black and also might be the Antichrist would still rather vote for him than the Republican ticket:
"I ain't gonna lie to you," he said. "A lot of people around here don't want Obama because of his colour. And it's his name that bothers me. It's Muslim."
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"Despite all that, I'm pushing more toward him because of the economy. Fuel prices are killing us. To me, McCain is just for the rich people. A lot of us are reconsidering Obama because we like what he's saying on the economy."
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A year ago, she said, she would never have voted for Barack Obama "because he looks foreign and he looks like a terrorist". She said that some of her friends believe he is the Antichrist.
And now? "I'm probably gonna vote for Obama. He'll bring us jobs and health care."
You see? McCain is worse than the black terrorist lovin' Antichrist.
It is over.
Really, really over.
We do not need to be afraid anymore. There is no evil genius plan up Karl Rove's sleeve. There is no trick, no gimmick, no slogan, no October surprise to save them.
There will be no permanent Republican majority.
The GOP is dead.