STICK TO YOUR GUNS, GOP, SAYS MORRIS - AT 9:26 A.M. ET:  When Colin Powell speaks, everyone listens, for some reason I can't understand.  Powell, who endorsed Barack Obama for president last year, recently lectured his "fellow Republicans," asserting that they should become more moderate, more like him.  But Dick Morris takes on Powell and disagrees:

This is a time for the party to stand firm on its principles until this nation again comes around to the GOP's way of thinking. This process will be driven by the consequences of President Obama's program.

The challenge brought by Obama is no longer just theoretical: He means to pass the ultimate leftist agenda and has the votes to do so.

And...

Obama's brave new world will be the subject of the 2010 elections. We believe that his Congress will be swept from power as a result.

And...

All America will be watching the Obama fallout, and Republicans must be seen as a clear alternative -- a strong voice for reversal of the harm the president will have inflicted -- if they are to benefit from this catastrophe.

If the GOP is seen as a moderate force, a party just looking to split the difference, voters will cynically conclude that there is no distinction between the parties.

Finally...

Now another great debate has been born. The thesis is democratic socialism. The antithesis is free-market capitalism.

The Obama Democrats have posed the challenge. It's up to the Republicans to fight along these lines. Compromise is not an option, yet.

At some point, the synthesis will set in. But now is the time for clear alternatives and sharp disagreement. Only later can we hope to extract America from the leftist clutches into which it has fallen.

COMMENT:  Morris has a mixed record on predictions.  He wrote a book predicting that the 2008 presidential election would be between Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton.  But he is also an astute political observer, with a good sense of timing.

I suspect he's fundamentally correct, although he probably overstates the backlash against Mr. Obama's policies.  I don't think anyone can claim that there's a huge, angry tide building, at least not yet.  Rasmussen's generic congressional ballot shows the two parties about even in congressional preference.

And you can't beat somebody with nobody.  Morris makes good points about Republicans sticking to principles, but the recruitment of great candidates to run with those principles is absolutely critical.  We aren't seeing that to any great degree.

May 9, 2009