Same Script, Different World

From Adam Nagourney's article on the Lamont postmortem:

Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, is planning to give a speech in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday morning in which he will use Mr. Lamont’s victory — and the defeat of a respected three-term senator — to portray Democrats as a party weak on national defense, and his affiliation with blogs to present the Democrats as captive to the extreme wing of the party, Republican aides said.

Even before the results in Connecticut emerged, Republicans had made clear that they would try again to make national security the central issue in the fall Congressional elections. A list of talking points issued by Republican leaders for Senate Republicans to use while on recess this month bluntly advised them to note how “there have been no terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11.”

They're running the same script in a different world. Three incumbents lost their seats today. Sentiment for "stay the course" is at a decided low ebb. This is not going to work. But the Republicans really don't have another script, do they? They can't run away from the President. They can't suddenly change the way they do business in Washington. Fear's all they've got.