Ground Game

*Sorry for the lack of posting so far today. The site's database has been down all day, but seems to be back to working...

A rush of stories headlining the blog conversation today, all hitting the central theme that House Republicans are in dire straits heading into November. Karl Rove says the Republicans must "stand for something," while the Politico grimly projects potential 20 seat losses for the Republicans. Their party also has 23 senators up for re-election compared to 12 for the Democrats.

The large Republican losses in 2006 have largely been attributed to a combination of President Bush's unpopularity, the war in Iraq and various scandal stories. However, many Republicans, including John McCain, have said his party faired poorly largely because they abandoned fiscally conservative principles. Hot Air's Ed Morrissey somewhat echoes that position, after a string of Democratic special election victories in previously Republican-held districts:

The lack of motivation comes from a disgust with a Republican Party that still hasn't learned why it lost the majority in 2006. They lost those mid-term elections not because voters stopped supporting conservative principles, but because the House GOP stopped supporting conservative principles. Look at who won these special elections; they're all Blue Dog Democrats, running in support of conservative themes such as gun rights. Now look at the Republicans who last held those seats, such as Hastert and Wicker -- Republicans who spent other people's money on waste and personal ambition.

Progressive bloggers say the results really show that running against Barack Obama doesn't work and that the "politics of fear" has lost its impact as an effective campaign strategy.

Those reports come on the same day as an AFP story on vulnerable Republicans looking to McCain for support on the campaign trail this year. The story includes both House Republican leader John Boehner and deputy whip Eric Cantor stressing McCain's appeal to both independents and conservatives.  The Politico, which authored the report on potential double-digit losses, the same day runs a piece on the "six ways the GOP can save itself."

The Weekly Standard's Gary Anders is more skeptical:

One way to highlight a Republican message and get people to pay attention is to give Democrats a chance to enact their agenda, and then run against it. That might take some time. In the meantime, hard work and patience are probably the best elixirs.