In announcing the departure of Donald Rumsfeld today, George W. Bush acknowledged, at least implicitly, that the American people have made it clear that they want a change of direction in Iraq.
The National Republican Campaign Committee? Not so much.
Earlier this morning, NRCC spokesman Carl Forti distributed an "Election Results Talking Points" memo in which he listed a lot of explanations for why Republicans took a thumpin' Tuesday: "Incumbents who were unprepared lost," "the scandal factor was costly, "retirements were also damaging," "sixth-year elections are toughest for the president's party," and "the erosion in the environment suppressed discussion of local issues."
As the Hotline notes, two words were missing from the list: "Bush" and "Iraq."
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