...is not shaping up to be 1992.
When you look back to the defeat of George H.W. Bush in 1992, you realize that 1991 was a true harbinger, specifically Harris Wofford's stunning defeat of Dick Thornburgh. Thornburgh had been a two-term governor and had just served as then-President Bush's Attorney General. Wofford had never even sought elective office. And yet Wofford won in a walk. It was a powerful sign of the palpable anger that was bubbling throughout the country.
Meanwhile, also in 1991, Patrick Buchanan was gearing up a primary challenge to the incumbent president, which demonstrated that the president had alienated his base. Buchanan severely bloodied the incumbent.
Contrast that with the current climate. Republican candidates are not running from President Bush, rather they are inviting him to campaign for them. Outside of hard-left circles (The NPR/Starbucks types) there simply is not the grass-roots anger that is needed to defeat an incumbent president.
And unlike GHW Bush in 92 and Carter in 76, this president has a very content base and faces no primary challenge.
Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, this much is clear: The bubbling anger of 1991 just ain't there in 2003.