Tom Edsall's writings make clear that he is on the port side of the partisan divide, but my political differences with him notwithstanding, he is honest and thorough in this piece, which discusses how Republicans can reverse their recent electoral misfortunes. I certainly liked the sentence with which Edsall closed his piece: "The compelling mandate for a national political party in the United States is not to serve as ideological advocate, but to win."

A nice thing for Republicans to remember. Alas, the party is currently in its George McGovern stage, during which time it has sacrificed winning for ideological advocacy. It may well have to pass through its Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis stages before a Republican Leadership Council--or some such vehicle--teaches it how to win again.