By J Ryan

As the end of 2005 draws near, Congressional public-opinion ratings are low, and the President's approval ratings are below 50 percent. Republicans in recent months have struggled to combat the negative reaction to the President's response to Hurricane Katrina, as well as the investigation of Sen. Frist, the indictment of Tom Delay, huge deficits and the loss of fiscal sanity. They have had a lot to overcome. As a result, many are predicting trouble for the Republicans in next year's mid-term elections.

Everything is in place to give the Democrats an election boost. However, at this point -- with nearly a year until the elections -- they are not united and do not have a message to sell to the American people. Liberal Democratic leaders are still peddling their message of the last two decades, which has not and will not resonate with the voters, while the rest look a bit out of place attacking the Republicans.

The Democrats' lack of a united front or even a simple agenda leaves a lackluster alternative to the Republicans for the voters next year. If Democrats can't get all the negativity pinned on the Republicans now, how are they going to do it in the year ahead?

The media affectionately came to call this past summer "the summer of discontent." They did their best to attack the President, which culminated in some success. The President's approval rating lowered to 40 percent, down six points from the summer average, but he bounced back with high visibility, sitting at the helm as Hurricane Rita came and went without too much devastating effect.

In addition, the truth about the failure of local leaders in responding to Katrina worked its way through criticism of the federal government. This was a major defeat for the Democrats. Although they escaped much of the blame, they did not get the yardage out of the situation that they could have and no doubt hoped they would. With the mid-term elections a year off, this issue will not help them. In a year, voters will likely only remember Katrina as they do other hurricanes of the past.

The fact is this was a bad summer for the Republican Party. But they have managed to come through relatively unscathed and remain in the same position they were in in May. In short, Republicans survived the events of the summer, which could have turned out much worse.

J Ryan is a contributor to rightturnonly.com.