BILL QUICK: “In the vein of LBJ and Walter Cronkite, I think it is fair to say that if George W. Bush has lost Peggy Noonan, then he has lost the Republican Party.”

Hey, Rush Limbaugh savaged me when I said it last fall before the election, but it’s like there’s some bizarre Republican death wish. (But Limbaugh seems to have caught on to my point more recently.) I’d disagree with Noonan, though, in that I think the GOP Congress was just as bad as the White House is now. In both cases, it’s an attitude of entitlement that seems to be endemic among our political class, and certainly one that the Democratic Congress is already displaying in full measure.

And, despite Bush’s many flaws, not everything is Bush’s fault — though it would surely be convenient for lots of people if it were.

UPDATE: And read this report and this one about Republican problems with grassroots support. All I can say is, “I told you so.” Repeatedly. In fact, all you have to do is listen to this podcast interview with Ken Mehlman, then RNC chair, to realize that these problems were obvious over a year ago, but that the GOP establishment was either oblivious, or unwilling to address them. Can’t anyone here play this game?