A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Not to be catatonically sanguine about the fate of the GOP, but however much I agree with the general tenor of this piece by Peggy Noonan, there is something unsettling about its "we're all gonna die!" tone. If I had a nickel for every time a political party had been pronounced as having shuffled off its mortal coil . . . well . . . let's just say that I might finally be in a position to turn my beloved Bears into serious Super Bowl contenders. In the meantime, let's remember that political tides shift and change rather rapidly and today's near-extinct party has an interesting tendency to become tomorrow's sociopolitical dynamo.

Again, this is not to say that the GOP does not have very real problems. It does. The brand needs serious reworking, morale on the Hill and throughout the party in general needs a boost of major proportions and the leadership needs to be changed. But even at their weakest, major political parties have vast amounts of reserve strength and energy that allows them to wait out the bad times. Sure, there are parties that go the way of the dinosaur, but these are rather rare events. More often than not, remarkable comebacks are the story of the day.

And yes, Republicans will actually have to work for that comeback. The good news for the GOP, however, is that contra what might be gleaned from some pundits, that work--if done right and diligently--will likely not be in vain.