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I also disagree with those who say the GOP should have kissed and made up with Linc Chaffee in order to keep a Senate majority. If Chafee, who spoke and often voted as a Democrat, was promised an attractive committee chairmanship, and thought he could avoid being made inconsequential in the way Jeffords was, he would likely have betrayed the Republicans in a minute. While it would have been better to purge the party of RINO's in 2002 when it was stronger (how many votes do you think Rick Santorum lost for supporting for Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey?), it still may be better off without its Linc Chafees.

The Ohio Republican Party is in almost as bad a shape as the Illinois party has been since the days of George Ryan.

p>Enough for now. With the market headed downward and Democrats hard at work to raise taxes and scuttle the economic boom, I need to work even harder to maintain our family's modest standard of living. br> -- Steve Fernandez br> Missouri /p>

Like your Mr. Klein, I am nostalgic for the clarity and substance of the 1994 Contract with America but it would be a mistake to expect to duplicate such a unique event. 1994 was Act II of an existing anti-incumbent wave (greatly helped by Clinton's first budget) and a time of almost perfect GOP unity of key issues and unparalleled intellectual and political leadership.

On Iraq, immigration, fiscal issues and social security, the GOP does not have anything close to a unified voice and that will likely worsen in the short term. There is no new Gingrich, no new crop of youngish Reaganites in their prime ready to fill the ranks of government and no bright new philosophical energy. The GOP leadership is rather tired across the board.

Bush and the GOP Congress wrongly relied on a simplistic political formula using the War on Terror as a single issue rather than a substantive governing record, blithely assuming that in a showdown between peacenik defeatists and patriots and that the good guys would always win. They acted as if it were enough to point out the bias and distortions of the New York Times et al. instead of speaking directly to the concerns of the people the New York Times successfully demoralized.

Unless the Democrats cooperate and provide some helpful issue clarity, the GOP will likely be in the minority in Congress for several elections and probably lose a few more Senate seats in each of the next two elections. The Dems are fortunate not to have much vision or unity themselves so they will instead serve up lots of mushy veto bait to prove their love for the Little Guy and for Mother Earth and their hatred for The Rich, all to the sustained applause of the media.

p>The truth is a repeat of the 1994 victory would require even better leadership, even better ideas, and even better party discipline to overcome the inertia that is already in place. It saddens me but I don't see it on the horizon. br> -- George Tobin br> North Potomac, Maryland

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