It most certainly doesn’t look good for the Donkey Party this year, does it? Politically speaking, the sky is a uniform grey that darkens with scudding thunderheads. The seas, too, are restless and waves break into myriad white caps as the winds of coming change churn the surface of the water.

A storm - one that has been forming since early spring of 2009 - is approaching and from the look of things it could be the biggest of its kind in our history.

The political is question is not so much “Can the Democrats weather the storm?” but rather, “Will the Republicans be smart enough to take advantage of the storm and sink the Democrat warship?” It’s an excellent question, one for which I wish dearly I had an answer.

Thus an excellent analysis of the upcoming struggle in today’s Washington Times.

An already difficult situation for Democrats in Congress is worsening as the 2010 political season opens.

To minimize expected losses in next fall’s election, President Barack Obama’s party is testing a line of attack that resurrects George W. Bush as a boogeyman and castigates Republicans as cozy with Wall Street.

If I may continue the nautical analogy, that would be like pulling a WW2 destroyer away from its museum moorings and sending it into battle against a nuclear-powered missile cruiser. No contest. Bush is no longer President and we have heard little if anything from him (thank God) since he left office.

The Eeeeevil Boooosh meme is old and decrepit, utterly bereft of any talismanic power to mesmerize anyone outside of the kook left asylum. For an entire year this nation has been relentlessly bombarded with images and soundbites of the Man-Child President to the point that even his supporters are getting sick of seeing and listening to him. It has had the practical effect of erasing Chimpy McBushitler from the national consciousness and any memories of him that do remain may be found only in the nostalgic recollections of Obama voters suffering from buyer’s remorse.

Worse yet, in light of the recent terrorist attacks, resurrecting the ghost of George Bush past brings with it the danger of reminding voters that in the seven years following September 11, 2001, not a single terrorist incident occurred. Love him or hate him, the fact remains that this nation was kept safe under his watch. Under Obama’s watch we have become the laughingstock of the world - in much the same manner Minnesota has become the laughingstock of America thanks to Al “Stuart Smalley” Franken.

…Going into 2010, Democrats held a 257-178 majority in the House and an effective 60-40 majority in the Senate, including two independents who align themselves with Democrats.

But they face an incumbent-hostile electorate worried about a 10 percent unemployment rate, weary of wars and angry at politicians of all stripes. Many independents who backed Democrats in 2006 and 2008 have turned away. Republicans, meanwhile, are energized and united in opposing Obama’s policies.

The one thing that heartens Democrats is that voters also don’t think much of the GOP, which is bleeding backers, lacking a leader and facing a conservative revolt.

“Ay,” said Hamlet as he pondered his future, “there lies the rub.” Indeed. It’s not for nothing Republicans have been called “The Stupid Party.” Time and again we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as we pulled out both six-shooters and promptly aimed them at our feet. Voters don’t think much of the GOP in general because the GOP in general has consistently butt-screwed them since 2004 and even deviants tire of non-stop sodomy.

In spite of all the opportunities presented to it by a combination of Democrat blundering and sheer good fortune, the Republican Party continues to dither much like Hamlet: “To be or not to be. That is the question.” Actually, they remind me of the character of George Grey from Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology: (H/T to Dave Harris for the correction)

Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.

To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire–
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

When, I wonder, will the Republican Party hoist the anchor, lift the sail and catch the winds of  destiny?

…But that was three years ago. Democrats have been in control since, and Bush is long gone. This is Obama’s country now. Democrats tried to use Bush against Republican Chris Christie in the New Jersey governor’s race in November — and Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine still lost.

A top Democratic priority is minimizing losses among nearly four dozen seats the party now holds in moderate-to-conservative districts that Republican John McCain won in the 2008 presidential race. The most vulnerable in that group include Democratic Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy in Ohio, Harry Teague in New Mexico, Frank Kratovil in Maryland, Tom Perriello in Virginia and Travis Childers in Mississippi.

Reps. Bart Gordon and John Tanner, both of Tennessee, were in that group until they chose to retire. So was Griffith, before he switched to the GOP. Retirement announcements from Reps. Dennis Moore of Kansas and Brian Baird of Washington put two more Democratic seats in swing-voting districts on the GOP’s target list.

Democrats insist that Gordon, Tanner, Moore and Baird are leaving for personal reasons and are not the first ripple in a wave of retirements akin to 1994 when 28 Democrats chose not to run, and Republicans won control in part by winning 22 of those seats.

Republicans don’t agree.

“Democrats are beginning to see the writing on the wall, and instead of choosing to fight in a difficult political environment, they are taking a pass and opting for retirement,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the House GOP’s campaign arm.

The reign - for Spain - will fall mainly on the Plains. Look to what were once called the “Blue Dog” districts, Ken. Make sure you get your act together and run all the Reagan clones you can find.

That is the only way Republicans are going to secure any meaningful numbers in the House and the Senate this November. It’s not so much a question of being “not Obama” but a question of being “for liberty and prosperity.” The Man-Child was elected last November for two and only two reasons: he was black and he wasn’t George Bush. John McCain lost the election last November for two and only two reasons: he stood for everything and he stood for nothing.

Thus I am pessimistic about the future of New Jersey under Chris Christie. He was elected, by and large, for one reason only: he wasn’t Jon Corzine. All good and well until Corzine is gone and Christie remains. Then what? When the band finishes its celebratory tune and the dancers return to their seats, what comes next? Hence buyers’ remorse.

The upcoming mid-term elections - much like the geneeral election of 2008 and the mid-term election of 2006 - are the Republicans’ to lose. Here’s to hoping that this time they aim the political six-shooters in the right direction.