Upon being informed that a newspaper had printed his obituary, Mark Twain is reported to have said

 The rumors of my Death have been greatly exaggerated.

I am beginning to feel that way about the GOP.

We are continuously hearing about the demise of the Republican Party.

Are the reports of the death of the GOP, to paraphrase Mark Twain, "Greatly exaggerated?" Or are we seeing the inexorable demise of a doomed beast -- like seeing the last wooly mammoth go down in tar pits of La Brea?

The defeats suffered in the 2006 mid-term and 2008 Presidential elections, combined with the recent defection of Senator Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party, certainly left a whiff of lingering death in the air. Was Specter's decision a mandatory 10-count that will allow the Republicans to get off the mat and fight on? Or was it the final knockout roundhouse?

I am sorry but there is quite a bit of exageration here.  The 2006 Election was the average outcome of a second term bielection.  It is true that the Democrtic Party did much better than the Republican Party in that election, but there was nothing out side of the normal range.

Full Balance of Power 218 needed for majority, 435 at stake, 0 undecided PARTY TOTAL GAIN/LOSS Republican 202 -30 Democrat 233 31 Independent 0 -1 Full Balance of Power 51 needed for Dem majority/50 needed for GOP majority, 33 at stake, 0 undecided PARTY NOT UP TOTAL GAIN/LOSS Republican 40 seats 49 -6 Democrat 27 seats 51 6 Independent 0 seats 0 0 Now it is also true that 2008 took that trend further

House of Representatives

All of the above looks daunting, I will be the first to admit that, but if this portends the demise of the Republican Party shouldn't it be as bad or worse than what has gone before???

 Let's just take a look and see how the present state compares with say the 1976 Election?

Party summary

Senate

• Democratic (D) : 61 (majority)
• Republican (R) : 39

TOTAL members: 100

House of Representatives

• Democratic (D) : 292 (majority)
• Republican (R)  : 143

TOTAL members: 435

Now I might be biased but I don't see much difference in the balance of power in the Senate and the distribution of House seats looks better today than after the 1976 Election.

 But what about one might ask the overwhelming victory of the Democratic Presidential Candidate?

 Was it really that overwhelming??

 1976  Jimmy Carter against Gerold Ford

Carter won with 50.1% of the vote to Ford's 48%

2008 Barack Obama against John McCain

Obama won with 52.9% of the vote to McCain's 45.7%

 2008 was better than 1976 but neither compare with 1964

Johnson had 61.1% of the vote to Goldwater's 38.5%

 No any prediction of the demise of the Republican Party

needs to explain why it did not curl up in die during the last

40 some years when things looked as bad as they do now or even'

worse.

 Whatever became of that Carter fellow anyway?

Oh I remember now