For all of our readers who are a little too pure sometimes...

I admire your pragmatism, Singleton, although I also tend to think of it as idealism. I've spent my whole voting life pretty much holding my nose and pulling the lever for the lesser of two evils.

But there comes a point where you have to say "enough" and say that certain things will not be forgiven. I doubt I would ever vote for a Senator who voted for S2611 in the last congress, for instance. So John Warner is out in my book.

On the other hand, one does have to pick one's fights. I can probably bend on issues where you wouldn't and vice versa.

I do appreciate the Supreme Court that W has given us and what his tax cuts have done for the economy. I appreciate less other things he has given us.

If lifelong Republicans do not hammer the GOP, then who is going to possibly effect any change?

At the national level they were a disaster on spending and entitlements. That right there goes a long way, in many peoples' books, in defusing the fearmongering about what might happen if the Democrats take charge.

Oh wait, they just took charge. So let's see what they do. If they attempt to outlaw handguns, take conservative talk radio off the air or indoctrinate children into Gaia-worship, they will be out on their keisters as fast as you can say "when is the next election."

Two words: Jim Webb.

The Democrats are so desperate to be accepted as normal they would have welcomed Pat Buchanan to head the ticket in Virginia.

What this says to me is there is no harm in holding to some degree of "purity." Maybe it means you lose an election or two, but when a party needs to be rebuilt on principles - any principles - some time in the wilderness is not necessarily a bad thing.

And the Democrats know that if they attempt to use their moment in the sun to do anything absolutely nutso they will be gone in a flash. They will lose Jim Webb and half their freshman class.

I think we have to get beyond thinking of the Republicans as the smart party and the Democrats as the stupid party. It's hard - I know. But in the end the parties are ciphers. They can be anything.

We in the GOP have had all this burgeoning fear about the impact of liberals, Democrats, infiltrating our party. Heck, they've practically taken it over at some levels, right?

Who's to say it can't go the other way? Jim Webb? Phyllis Randall? Sometimes I think there's nothing more substantive to the debate between the parties than whether one fancies the Yankees or the Mets.