Panic is spreading among Republican operatives in the nation's capital after Mississippi Democrat Travis Childer's special election win on Tuesday. Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said "this was a real wake-up call for us." RNCC head Tom Cole didn't mince words either. "What we've got right now is a deficiency in our message," he said, "and a loss of confidence by the American people that we will do what we say we are going to do."

The embattled GOP certainly has reason to be worried, as Bush's drag on the party is self-evident. Republicans also face overwhelming financial obstacles, as The Politico laid out yesterday: House Republicans only have $7 million in the bank to help defend 30 open seats this cycle and McCain has siphoned all cash from the RNC, which historically has gone to Senate campaigns. That helps explain the most recent Senate polling data, compiled by OpenLeft's Chris Bowers, suggesting that Democrats are in prime position to capture between five and nine seats:

Still, three clear pickups, two toss-ups in Republican held seats, and four more Republican held seats within single-digits is excellent. Even though Senate cmapigns have largely flown under the radar due to the focus on the Presidential nomination campaign, Democrats are actually in a much better position to pick up seats in May 2008 than we were even in September of 2006. One of the reasons the situation is so much better now than two years ago is that not a single Democratic held seat is currently within single digits. So, we have nine potential pickups, with more possibly on the way, compared to zero for Republicans.

It's pretty difficult to wipe away that Bush stink if you have no funds with which to re-brand the party.

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But this internal mess doesn't necessarily spell doom for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. In fact, it could be a blessing. If party leaders explicitly reject Bush throughout the campaign, the press will start trolling for examples of Republican dissent to feed their new narrative. In steps McCain, who could put forth policy proposals that break enough from the president for the press to report on them favorably but not enough to drive away the base.

His recently announced environmental plan is a prime example. The press notes the divergence from Bush without analyzing the plan's own shortfalls. And oh, does it have shortfalls. As David Roberts explains, by allowing regulated entities to achieve 100 percent of their emission reductions through the purchase of domestic or international offsets, the carbon policy "will create a system that begs to be gamed and manipulated."

That's why it's up to Democrats to blast away at all of McCain's policies, from his tax-cuts to his militarism to his token carbon plans. He's a weak candidate out of step with the needs of Americans, even if he's a smidgen better than the one we've got now.