The Democrats have thrown everything they can at this President. They are aghast at his every breath. But do they celebrate prematurely? I know they hate him. I know they hate the breakfast cereal he eats and the mud on his boots. They hate his family and his supporters. They hate his military and his cabinet and his congress and his religion.

But there's one thing they probably hate more than everything else combined.

His poll numbers.

He's now heading towards the north side of 50 again. How can that be? They've accused him of everything, haven't they? What else can they say and do to hurt him politically?

Everything. And nothing. It just doesn't seem to matter. He rises and falls on his own actions. And right now, he's rising. That must be such a bitter pill for those who've dedicated so much time and energy to destroying him.

Merry Christmas, NYT. Better luck next year.
Merry Christmas, CBS. (This is an authentic post, by the way).
Merry Christmas, Harry Reid. You killed the Patriot Act. Nice move.
Merry Christmas, Nancy Pelosi You called for a withdrawal from Iraq. Great timing.
Merry Christmas, Ted Kennedy. You made a deal with the devil for gas for Boston. Runs in the family.
Merry Christmas, troops. You did your job with pride. I honor you.
Merry Christmas, Dixie Chicks. Are you still making music?
Merry Christmas, Texas prosecutor. Good luck keeping your license.
Merry Christmas, liberal columnists. Don't have a stroke.
Merry Christmas, Senator Durbin. Hope you get some Kleenex for your tears for terrorists.
Merry Christmas, Al Gore. Thanks for the internet.
Merry Christmas, Nashville. Thanks for the music.
Merry Christmas, Judges. Forget intelligent design and search warrants for a few days.
sharptalk

I have been proven wrong. A week or so ago I said that the President overnight approval ratings would suffer on Thursdays because of the Wednesday night church services attended by many conservative Christians. Well, that week his poll ratings dropped on Friday and then fell a little more (rather than rising on Friday as I had said they would).

And now today, Thursday, they've just hit their highest level since probably October. Rasmussen shows his approval rating at 48%. He also shows Investor confidence at its highest level in 9 months and consumer confidence at its highest level in 5 months.

Fed Ex profits surged on heavy holiday shipping. A sign that this will have been a very strong 4th quarter for the economy.

Things are looking good.
sharptalk

Congress just passed a deficit reduction package, the economy is booming, the Iraq vote went amazingly well, oil price is dropping, it's Christmas, more terrorists have been caught (latest one in Lebanon after being released by Germany - thanks a lot guys).

Here's the irony of the deficit reduction vote (I know, I know, it's easy to reduce when you've spent yourself blind - all too true). The last tie-breaking vote in the Senate given by a V.P. that I can remember was when Al Gore broke the tie to raise taxes in 1993.

I'm probably just unaware of the others, but what an interesting distinction.

Oh, by the way, the Washington Post/ABC poll has Bush's approval rating at 47 now and so does Rasmussen. Investor and Consumer confidence are surging per Rasmussen as well.

Merry Christmas everyone. Or as my son says, "Merry Chrismahannukwanzadan". That should keep him out of trouble.

sharptalk

...but the Democrats seem to have worked out a strategy to lose in 2006. I'm a Republican because I'm pro-life and, as an econ major in college, I firmly believe in the Republican economic philosophy (except they could jettison the unfettered spending). That's where I'm coming from.

But as I watch the Democrats I have to wonder if they've thought through their apparent strategy. It seems to be built on bitterness. There are a lot of friends of mine who are Democrats who are extremely bitter and they were long before the Iraq war (remember "selected, not elected"?)

But here's my point. They've boxed themselves into the same corner as they did in 2004. They've put themselves in the position of needing bad things to happen to America for them to be successful.

Remember the "worst economy since the Depression"? Clearly not rooted in fact, but an opportunistic tactic of the moment from a bitter crowd ready to repeat anything bad about President Bush. But that meant that bad news for American workers was good news for them and good news for American workers was bad news for them. Does this look like a bad strategy to anyone else? Or is it just me? My advice would have been to identify a problem they could solve and run with a positive campaign (like the Republican Contract with America that won both houses in 1994).

So here we are on the cusp of the 2006 campaigns. And the strategy is "America can't win in Iraq". That means that American soldiers need to die for them to be successful. That means that Democracy has to fail in the Middle East for them to be successful. And what, then, is their strategy to fight terrorism in the Middle East?

Anyone?

Anyone at all?

There isn't one. Except to gut the Patriot Act and to try and stop the NSA from eavesdropping on radical fundamentalist conversations from overseas. Once again, does this look like a bad strategy to anyone else?

Just hoping bad things happen to Americans and to Democracy is not a position of strength to launch political campaigns from when security continues to be the most important issue to many Americans. But, as Ronald Reagan would have said, "There they go again".

sharptalk

Whether it's Republican or Democrat. It's clear that there have been a number of Republicans either blatantly corrupt or playing fast and loose with the lines of corruption. This is exactly where things were in 1994 when the House Bank scandal, House Post Office scandal, Rostenkowski corruption and Democratic House Majority leader Jim Wright's book scandal hit.

I have heard some say that neither party should be in power for an extended period of time. They may be right. It will have been 12 years in the house since the Repubs gained a majority. If they keep the majority, we can only hope they have the fear of God put in them and straighten up.

sharptalk