Weak GOP Congressional leadership

It was bad enough that Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress in the 2004 election. This was needless, a case of weak congressional leadership and even weaker campaign leadership.

House speaker Dennis Hastert, a colorless backbencher until elevated to speaker as a third-choice selection (Newt Gingrich forced to resign, then his replacement Louisiana Rep. Bob Livingston was forced to resign), lent very little leadership to the House. The liberals correctly saw that the most effective leader in the House who could really get things done was Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. That meant forcing him out at all costs, which they did. His replacement, Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, was another undistinguished backbencher.

New York Rep. Tom Reynolds and Virginia Rep. Tom Davis were weak chairmen of the House GOP Campaign Committee. Subsequent audits have shown how they misappropriated funds and in 2004 didn't raise enough funds for Republican incumbents and challengers. The other major job of the committee, recruiting strong candidates in open seats, was badly mishandled, so the GOP went into the campaign lacking both funds and strong candidates.

The story in the Senate wasn't much better. After forcing out Majority Leader Trent Lott over speaking favorably at Sen. Strom Thurmond's funeral, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee became Majority Leader. He was flat out unable to pull it together. He managed to turn a legitimate shot at the GOP presidential nomination into a non-starter, all because of his weak performance as Majority Leader.

North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole was a bust at chairman of the GOP Senate Campaign Committee. She raised less money and recruited weaker candidates than the GOP had seen in many elections. That's why we lost the Senate.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the current Senate minority leader, is an improvement, but the word "minority" says it all. The same can be said of House minority leader John Boehner. He's paddling upstream as fast as he can, but the minority in the House doesn't even have the threat of a filibuster like they have in the Senate, so is almost an afterthought,

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are among the weakest and most ineffectual holders of those jobs in recent recall. The lions of yesteryear like Sam Rayburn or Lyndon Johnson must be laughing from their graves at how far the Democratic congressional leadership has fallen.

What an opportunity for the GOP, if we just had the leaders to take advantage of it.