Instapundit Warns Republicans

In a Washington Examiner editorial, the Instapundit Glenn Reynolds warns Republicans they'd better understand the nature and limits of the support they're expecting in the fall elections:

Both political parties are out of touch, and ordinary Americans are very unhappy about it, as they watch the Treasury being looted, the economy sink, and the political, journalistic, and financial ruling-class figures escaping the consequences of their ham-handed and self-serving actions.

But while ordinary Americans are mad as hell, this time they really don’t have to take it any more. Institutions have failed them, but Internet tools like blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, and personal tools -- like the cheap handheld video cameras that beat back bogus charges of Tea Party racism again and again -- mean that they don’t have to rely on failing institutions....

...But those establishment GOP figures who think that they’ll cruise to victory and a return to the pocket-stuffing business-as-usual that marked the prior GOP majority need to think again. This election cycle is, in a very real sense, a last chance for the Republicans. If they blow it, we’re likely to see third-party challenges in 2012, not only at the Presidential level but in numerous Congressional races as well.

I've been saying this for some time time. Business as usual is not going to cut it. Ultimately, the most interesting thing about the results of the upcoming mid-terms is going to be how the President and the next Congress respond to deep voter dissatisfaction. Together, they need to get past partisan bullshine and find substantive bipartisan ways to address big issues like gross gov't overspending, entitlement reform, immigration, the glut of unrealistic loans clogging the real estate market, and healthcare costs (as opposed to access), If they don't. I think we'll see a pretty noticeable move towards legitimate viable independent candidacies.