Where Is a Third Party When You Need One? 

RealClearPolitics has some interesting commentary on recent poll numbers:

Democrats hope that George Bush's miserable poll numbers will help them reclaim control of Congress this fall. But polls also show that the Democratic Party's overall approval ratings are almost as deep in the tank as the Republican rating. Voters may be expressing dismay at the alternatives.

That would be understandable. The relentlessly partisan House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, as Speaker? Sen. Robert Byrd, the ancient king of pork from West Virginia, as head of Senate appropriations? Gasbags like Patrick Leahy and Teddy Kennedy back in charge of judicial nominations?

Or how about John Conyers, the Detroit-congressman-for-life who would automatically become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee? Nancy Pelosi has promised that one of her first acts as House Speaker would be to unleash a series of investigations into the Bush administration. As it happens, Conyers has given us a taste of what life would be like under the Pelosi reign of terror.

Via Instapundit. I always laugh when I read the articles on the latest presidential approval polls, because buried underneath is also the news that Congress is doing worse... yet somehow that's never a headline. While many people right now associate Congress with the GOP... I don't think people have any faith that the Democrats would handle anything better. I sure as hell don't.

Yet there is this overwhelming sense that people are willing to vote for Democrats just to give a wake up call to the GOP. Frankly, I find voting for people you despise just to spite the people you think are potentially better is no smarter than cutting off your nose to spite your face.

If ever there was a time for a real third party to come in and do some damage, now is it. Is it the Libertarian party? Well no. Even I don't like them... they're a bunch of anarchists really. But I think a "Conservative" party (capital C... fiscally conservative) would do quite well. If non-Republicans were to come along with a new "Contract with America" that didn't try to push abortion first... they'd clean up.