William Kristol on the perfidy of Republicans — including Gordon Smith — who dare utter a word against the war he’s nurtured for a decade:
In any case, Republican senators up for reelection in 2008 might remember this: The American political system has primaries as well as general elections. In 1978 and 1980, as Reagan conservatives took over the party from détente-establishment types, Reaganite challengers ousted incumbent GOP senators in New Jersey and New York. Surely there are victory-oriented Republicans who might step forward today in Nebraska, Virginia, Oregon, and Maine–and, if necessary, in Tennessee, Minnesota, and New Hampshire–to seek to vindicate the honor, and brighten the future, of the party of Reagan.
Oh, I can only hope.