I have long predicted that George Bush's disastrous policies would destroy the Republican Party. But rather than going out with a bang, the GOP may simply go out with a whimper - or a snore.

GOP funk slows turnout, money

Ten months before Election Day, Republicans are facing a threat that spells serious trouble for GOP candidates from the top of the ticket down to the most obscure races. The problem is the funk of the foot soldiers.

So far, the story of the 2008 campaign on the Republican side is what’s not happening.

Ambitious Republican politicians at the state and local levels are not deciding that this is the year to make a bid for higher office.

Republican contributors are not opening their wallets and writing campaign checks.

Most striking of all, Republican voters are not heading to the polls to vote in the GOP primaries in anything like participation rates of early years.

Most of these trends have been noted and amply commented upon in isolation. It is in combination, however, that their effects tend to reinforce each other and reach maximum toxicity. A disgruntled base is the root cause of weak fundraising, which contributes to poor candidate recruitment, which in turn leads to GOP activists staying on the sofa rather than heading to the polls.

The sofa effect was especially visible in the early presidential nominating contests this year.

"The sofa effect" - don't you love it?!

While voter turnout soared to new records in Iowa and New Hampshire on the Democratic side, it was actually down for Republicans in the first three states in which the candidates aggressively campaigned when compared to the last competitive race, in 2000.

All told, 1.2 million voted in the Republican races in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan. In 2000, the number was 1.6 million.

That's a 25% decline at a time when Democratic voting is soaring. That means purple districts and states will swing overwhelmingly to Democratic candidates, leaving Republicans representing blood red districts in the Bible Belt, and not much else.

While most Republicans are glum, a few dead-enders refuse to give up. When all else fails, there's always Clinton-hating:

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove made essentially this case Wednesday in remarks to the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Washington. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reputation, polarizing even among many Democrats — combined with a clear contrast between the parties over the future of Iraq — will rally Republicans, he said.

Of course Rove was dead wrong about the 2006 elections, when he predicted GOP victories right up until the end, based on "The Math."

One can only pray that Republicans follow Rove into the dustbin of history.