How times change

For whatever reason, my wife is on the mailing list for the Republicans, which we could live without (that's not an overtly political statement; we're capable of making up our own minds without the mailings, and would rather neither party waste their money on pointless literature).

Here's the tagline on this solicitation for funds (marked EMERGENCY NOTICE):

Dear John, I realize that it is absolutely essential to our Party's success for us to raise at least $30 million in the next 15 days to battle back against the Democrats' massive and limitless fundraising machine.

There is no greater measure of how things have changed. Bush, under the tutelage of Karl Rove, raised fantastic amounts of money in 2000 and 2004, while the Democrats struggled. Now it's the Democrats who have the "massive and limitless fundraising machine."

If Republicans want to look for someone to blame for this turn of events (and they do), they shouldn't waste time excoriating Obama or Howard Dean. Look right into the big white building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C.