According to this MSNBC poll study, "31 percent of conservatives want Republicans out of power." (Via InstaPundit.)

While the accuracy of the poll is questionable, the lack of conservative support for their party is something I have been expecting. Because of its minority status, the right wing of the Republican Party, in my view, would rather have the party as a whole return to its former position so they can be the "true base" of a minority party. This would allow them to regroup, reassert their moral authority, and the flow of money into conservative think tanks would be dramatically increased.

It seems counterintuitive that being a minority in an out-of-power party be advantageous to any group (much less the right wing of the Republican Party), but I see it as pretty simple math. When a party is out of power, the resultant power vacuum makes it much less clear who is running the party. By definition, it's up for grabs -- and there are losers to be blamed!

With Bush and the compassionate conservative, national greatness, big government clique at the wheel for the better part of a decade, the right wing has been utterly demoralized, and reduced to a servile, emasculated state.

They've been emasculated and servile for far too long, and finally they're as mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore.

As I've said more times than I care to remember, this situation favors the ascension of Hillary Clinton to the presidency. With Hillary in power and the Republican Party out, I think there'll be a right wing resurgence of the sort this country hasn't seen in recent memory.

The right wing wants its balls back, and once Hillary is in, they'll get the balls and money that they need.

Thus (and I realize they can't admit it), don't merely want Hillary, they need her.

The whole thing is scary, because I don't think the right wing really wants to win. Because they can't win (I suspect they know it), ideological purity right now is more important.

I'm glad no one has put me in charge of these awful things, but if Hillary asked for my advice, I'd tell her the following:

This will assist the current Republican gridlock:

I think the Republican calls for ever more draconian legislation might help her. The more to the right the GOP's hardline drifts, the less likely the possibility of any change in the status quo, and the more the "center" is shifted to the right. When the center shifts right, Hillary shifts right. And Hillary on the right places Republicans on the far right. (Except, of course, the lamer and lamer ducks, who won't be worth shooting.)

The blame game, of course, only increases the gridlock.

But the current gridlock is only temporary. Pretty soon the losers will be able to go home and lick their wounds. Following a period of wound-licking, the intra-party blame game will start again, this time focusing on who was responsible for the 2006 loss. With any luck, the recriminations and finger pointing will prevent the ascension of a serious Republican challenger in 2008.

But how I hate to end on a note of pessimism!

Hmmm....

Well, I guess this might be good news for the idealists who want to work in conservative think tanks without having to worry about the realities of power.

UPDATE: Real Clear Politics' John McIntyre thinks that "a Democratic take over of the House would change the dynamic of the 2008 race and, ironically, would probably be good news for Republicans," and he explains why. (Via Glenn Reynolds.)

Losing the House strikes me as a risky strategy, though.

(Especially once the losers start blaming each other.)