Yes, I know that Bob Novak leaves the stench of brimstone wherever he goes. And yes, I know exactly what Jon Stewart thinks of Novak. But I do enjoy reading his columns, because he often takes Republicans to task.

His morning column really hits the nail on the head. For years, Republican rhetoric has beaten Democratic rhetoric. But now they have a huge problem, because Republican performance has been pathetic (to put it kindly). The GOP has proven to be incompetent, and no amount of rhetoric can get around it. Money quote

The I-word (incompetence) is also used by Republicans in describing the Bush administration generally. Several of them I talked to cited a trifecta of incompetence: the Walter Reed hospital scandal, the FBI's misuse of the USA Patriot Act and the U.S. attorneys firing fiasco. "We always have claimed that we were the party of better management," one House leader told me. "How can we claim that anymore?"

That quote doesn't even mention the planning for Iraq or Katrina. Right now, before a GOP candidate utters a word, they have to overcome the poor performance of the past few years. This gives the Democratic nominee in 2008 a huge boost.