JIM GERAGHTY RESPONDS to my GOP pre-mortem. “The good news is, it’s very clear that 2005-2006 style Republican leadership is destined for the – well, forget being put out to pasture, let’s talk glue factory.”

UPDATE: I didn’t hear it, but according to reader email Rush Limbaugh singled out my pre-mortem post for criticism today.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Transcript and audio are available here, but I think only until tomorrow night. Excerpt:

The term GOP premortem, I don’t know who used it first, but a couple of other bloggers and stuff just think it’s cool and they’re all slapped — not all, two or three of them slapped it up. They think it’s really cool. One of them is I know is Glenn Reynolds. What’s his place? Instant Pundit? I’m not sure, but here’s his analysis: “If the GOP Goes Down, It’s Because It Had It Coming.” Once again, let me ask: if the Republicans win, is it because they had it coming? What kind of a fool reason is it to suggest that if the Republicans lose, it’s because they had it coming? Do Democrats have nothing coming? Why is it that we still can’t focus on, beyond me and the USA Today columnist who picked up this thread, why is it that we can’t focus on what happens to the Democrats if they lose?

Well, in the post Limbaugh links, I answer that first question:

I think it’s silly to pretend that the GOP isn’t in trouble — just look at the futures markets, as WindyPundit has. And if they do somehow squeak out a victory, it won’t be because they’ve been doing well all along. As WindyPundit says, “Certainly they haven’t delivered much of what they promised.” . . . But as I say above, even if they win, they need to learn from their mistakes. A last-minute win after four quarters of dropped balls doesn’t mean that the balls weren’t dropped.

But read the whole thing.