State of the Nation

Here's an interesting take on the pre-election mood of the country.

Despite their dreams of recapturing one or both houses of Congress this November, the Democrats seem determined to reprise their poor showings of 2002 and 2004. Now, as then, they are dozing in the campaign's homestretch, like Aesop's hare, lulled by rosy predictions and the premature applause of Hollywood and the mainstream press. Soon, however, they may awake to discover that while they snoozed before the finish line, George W. Bush hunkered down in his tough shell, kept his slow legs moving and inched them out.

Chicago Tribune: The Tortoise and those Democratic Hares