Instapundit Doesn’t Do a Lot of Long Posts

So when he does, pay attention.

This one is on the state of the 2006 congressional elections. Much of the opinion is his, but a lot, if not most, is from e-mailers.

He starts out by identifying six key GOP missteps (pork comes later), and it goes from there.

No matter your political persuasion, there will be a lot to agree and disagree with, but it’s all thought-out and well-written.

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UPDATE: Don Luskin thinks the GOP will hang on to the Senate, barely lose the House, and that it won’t have a lot of impact on the economy. Wish I agreed; if the tax cuts don’t get extended at least three more years (preferably five), all bets on future growth, tax receipts and deficit reduction are off.

UPDATE 2: Rush was on a roll about this yesterday in hard-drive saver of a post that will only be up until about 6 PM Tuesday. His point is that if anyone “deserves” defeat for various offenses (undermining war, economic myopia, political/electoral gamesmanship), it’s Democrats:

I’ll tell you, there’s so much — well, not “so much,” but there’s enough — negativism out there on our side that it frosts me. With all due respect to these people, to the extent that they’re read, I don’t know that they’re aware that they are contributing to the problem.

….. The latest Battleground poll, ladies and gentlemen. Get this. October of this year, the Battleground poll found 61% of American voters identify themselves as very conservative or conservative. Thirty-four percent of American voters describe themselves as liberal or very liberal.” Also, in the generic ballot in polling, 60% of those polled say: Yeah, “I like my guy. I like my incumbent.” The New York Times has an interesting website that shows the House and Senate races and who’s got solid chance to return, which seats are leaning in what direction, which are still up for grabs, and I’ve got that printed out. I’ll share this with you as the program unfolds.

….. Instant Pundit? I’m not sure, but here’s his analysis: “If the GOP Goes Down, It’s Because It Had It Coming.” Once again, let me ask: if the Republicans win, is it because they had it coming? What kind of a fool reason is it to suggest that if the Republicans lose, it’s because they had it coming? Do Democrats have nothing coming? Why is it that we still can’t focus on, beyond me and the USA Today columnist who picked up this thread, why is it that we can’t focus on what happens to the Democrats if they lose?

You know, the Republicans are expected to lose. The way the bar has been set it really isn’t going to be news, is it? If the Republicans lose, because that story is already been written, and it continues to be written every day. But if the Democrats lose, then is that not a huge story? It seems to me that people that have an interest in the outcome of events ought to be looking at that side of this as well. I’m trying to take the lead on this, but this whole idea of a premortem and analyzing why the Republicans are going to lose simply because they had it coming? Even if you believe Republicans deserve to lose, let me ask you, do you deserve to lose?

Does the country deserve a cut-and-run policy in the war on terror? Do the 3,000 brave souls who have lost their lives in the war on terror deserve to have the rug pulled out from under their mission? Do they deserve that? Do you deserve higher taxes? Do you deserve increased gasoline prices? Do you deserve two years of probable investigations into so-called war crimes and potential impeachment hearings, do you deserve that? Do the people of the country deserve what we would get with a liberal Democrat triumph? You know, we look at this, there’s some people apparently look at this as a game in Washington that doesn’t affect us, and the people who go to Washington, if they screw up, well, then the hell with me with them. They deserve to lose. It’s good. They’ll learn a lesson by losing.

Hard not to disagree, but there’s no crime in pointing out your team’s warts, esp when your team still has time to make case that they are serious about fixing them. Still, as much as many of us resist it, we still partially swallow the tripe coming out of the 527 Media that the GOP is doomed, when the situation is far from that.

Rush’s position is also in stark contrast to his on-air defense of George Will 10 years ago. After the final Clinton-Dole debate that year, Will wrote a column that essentially said “it’s over.” Callers wanted to pile on Will for writing it, but Rush said in defense of Will that “he doesn’t see it as his job to be a cheerleader.” Believe it or not, Rush, neither do most of us.