And in all o this the Democrats are almost bystanders

"Had Enough?" could ser e as their two-word Contract with America Here, as in Britain, the old adage holds true Oppositions don't win elections, go ernments lose them.. Bush's ratings went up slightly a ter news o the thwarted London terror attacks (an operation or which the administration desperately sought to claim some credit) But they are now back where they were be ore. And barring an "October Surprise" - another 9/11 or the like - or a spate o good news rom Iraq, they will probably stick there.And in all o this, the Democrats are almost bystanders. Two years later, they worked just enough to gi e the President his narrow re-election ictory o er John Kerry.Now howe er, oters may not be buying it. Listen to the speeches, howe er, and he could be running in the 2006 mid-terms.But will these tactics work this time around? They did, brilliantly, or the mid-terms o 2002, when Bush exploited the recent memory o 9/11 to corral the Democrats behind his plan to attack Iraq.

Donald Rums eld, the De ence Secretary, goes still urther, equating Democrats who urge withdrawal rom Iraq with the appeasers o the 1930s Ne ille Chamberlain may ha e died in 1940. The President e okes the 1930s, equating "Islamo- ascism" with Nazism. Iraq, we are told again and again, is the "central ront in the war on terror". Abo e all, they ha e ailed to banish the sense that they are not quite to be trusted with the nation's security - and herein lies the Republicans' best, perhaps only, chance o success.With the i th anni ersary o 9/11 a week away, the administration is already playing the card or all it's worth. Led by the irrepressible Newt Gingrich, the insurgent Republicans then gained more than 50 seats and won back the House or the irst time since the Eisenhower era.

Now as then, with Congress's own appro al rating at a piti ul 27 per cent, the mood is simply, "throw the bums out". I more o those bums are Republicans than Democrats, you don't need to be a Karl Ro e to draw the ob ious conclusion.The Democrats, it should be said, ha e done little to deser e their good ortune. In 1994 Gingrich published Contract with America, a pithy 10-point mani esto that promised a return to probity, good go ernance and sound alues This time around the Democrats o er nothing similar. Instead, they are split on Iraq, unsure about economic policy, and di ided on whether to return to a Clintonian strategy o centrism and compromise, or cast o into a more liberal yonder. Indeed, the current atmosphere closely resembles that o 1994, the year o the last great earthquake in Congress. To regain a majority, they need a net gain o six in the 100-seat chamber.