G - Ocho Cinco - P

Syndicated columnist Susan Estrich had this question high up in her latest opinion piece:

Has anyone heard of new faces, new ideas, "change" -- all the things Americans voted for overwhelmingly?

What "overwhelmingly"? Obama beat McCain 53 percent to 46 percent in the popular vote. That's not exactly overwhelming. And, as they say in the financial planning business, past results are not a guarantee of future performance. Twenty years ago, Bush 41 beat Dukakis by about the same margin, and we know how well 41 did in his re-election bid.

As for Congress, I don't know about "overwhelming" either. Voters tossed out one set of scoundrels, but all they got was another bunch of scoundrels that refuses to police its own ranks. Will people go back to the original set of scoundrels in 2010 or 2012? I have no idea.

It would help if the GOP offered a coherent vision of governance that swing voters could buy into, but so far it has not. From the outside looking in, it doesn't appear that the Republican Party needs a good political strategist to get its act in order. It needs a chaotician.

I well remember the Cincinnati Bengals' second Super Bowl against the (insert profanity here) San Francisco 49ers. Late in the game, Joe Montana threw an end zone pass right into the arms of Bengals cornerback Lewis Billups, and Billups dropped it. If Billups had made the catch, the Bengals would have won.

Maybe that's it. The GOP has been getting its strategy advice from Bengals management.

Right now, the Democratic Party is the Steelers, and the Republicans are the Bengals.