Observing the crack-up in, but not of, the conservative blogosphere it seems to me that many of the wingnut bloggers have recognized, without admitting it, that Bush is indeed a miserable failure. And not just by their standards, but by any standard. The blogging 'nuts know Bush is a dead duck, and they're looking beyond him, to the future.
The scuffle over Miers has exposed the right bloggers jockeying for (mostly imagined) positions of power once the Bush Era has ended. In 2004, there was no leadership fight within the Republican Party -- Bush was the unchallenged (though illegitimate) incumbent. The 'nuts did not have to back one candidate or another and ride his* coattails to glory. Back in 2000, most of the 'nuts did not exist as bloggers. So 2008 will be the first Presidential election in which the 'nuts will have to select a primary candidate and battle their fellow 'nuts who choose another contender.
But, as the Miers nomination revealed, many of the 'nuts see themselves not simply as supporters, but as power brokers. And they're making their wishlists for the future. The 2008 hopefuls will have to meet the 'nuts demands on a range of issues -- judicial nominees, cabinet picks, etc. -- or face being tarred electronically as RINOs and Islamist appeasers. Their rhetoric on immigration and the GWOT will have to be sufficiently coded; their views on the homosexual question will have to be sufficiently intolerant. They will be required to suck up to the New Media and whine repeatedly about the Old. Interviews and access will be demanded.
The Miers battle is just a trial run for this ideological shakedown, and the 'nuts risk revealing their impotence if Bush's pick is approved despite their wailing. In any event, I'm looking forward to the day when the 'nuts start Swiftboating their fellow Republicans, and themselves.
Ready, aim, fire.
* Yes, his. It's the Republican Party.
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