Time Magazine cover, October 16, 2006

Time Magazine’s October 16, 2006 issues declares the Republican Revolution over with a telling headline: “What a Mess.” Time reports Dennis Hastert said, in an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s conservative talk show, “If I fold up my tent and leave, then where does that leave us? If the Democrats sweep, then we’d have no ability to fight back and get our message out.” Time’s conclusion should sober any member of the G.O.P. hoping to party in November:

That quiet admission may have been the most damning one yet in the unfolding scandal surrounding Florida Congressman Mark Foley: holding on to power has become not just the means but also the end for the onetime reformers who in 1994 unseated a calcified and corrupted Democratic majority. Washington scandals, it seems, have been following a Moore’s law of their own, coming at a faster clip every time there is a shift in control. It took 40 years for the House Democrats to exhaust their goodwill. It may take only 12 years for the Republicans to get there.

Time also reports in this issue on the results of a TIME poll that shows that two-thirds of Americans believe Republican leaders tried to cover up the scandal. 54% of registered voters in November said they would likely vote for Democratic candidates in November. 65% said they disapprove of the way President Bush has handled the war in Iraq.

With less than a month before the election, the tide has turned decidedly in the Democrats’ favor. Much can happen in that time. Karl Rove has apparently been promising Republican insiders that an October surprise is in the works. Perhaps Osama bin Laden is on ice somewhere, about to be revealed? Will that be enough to deter a waking electorate?