Yet another marketplace reality may be ready to rise and bite the Republicans. It's called the polling place. A free election is the marketplace. Up steps the voter. He scans the choices -- says yes to this one, no to that one -- as if he were buying a new car or a can of tuna.

A political party -- even when it makes space for principles larger and more enduring than mere political advantage -- largely succeeds by succeeding. By doing the right things, in other words, in accordance with its philosophy and commitments. The right things, if well and fairly implemented, are supposed to make life generally better. The recognition that life is generally better turns voters into satisfied customers.

It's good old Republican marketplace economics, only in a different context -- a political one. You would expect Republicans to understand in their bones that you don't win the "customer's" favor by punting problems downfield, or by just leaving the general impression of disorientation and fecklessness. It is the impression Republicans thought only Democrats left. That, alas, was when Republicans mostly knew what they were up to, what their purpose in Washington was -- namely, expanding freedom rather than scrambling for spending "earmarks," campaign contributions, lobbyist junkets and the occasional bribe.

What a bunch of blitherers this group of once-earnest reformers, with purpose and pedigree, has turned into. What confusion of mind they present to the customers. Would you buy a new car from them? A used one, even?