ProspectusRepublicanDemocratStrong growth3 percent1 percentModerate growth29 percent9 percentLow growth34 percent25 percentNo growth7 percent6 percentA mild recession17 percent34 percentA deep recession7 percent20 percentA depression3 percent4 percentWith news of Wachovia’s decline, Fortis’s rescue, and the nationalization of Bradford & Bingley in the U.K., this pessimism is almost certain to have intensified. Does this signal the end of American economic dominance? A majority of beltway elites in both parties (85 percent of Republicans and 61 percent of Democrats) disagree with the notion that “this financial crisis marks the end of American international dominance.” But again, Democratic pessimism is clear here as well, with 39 percent of elite beltway Democrats agreeing with that notion. If Washington opinion elites are right, this bailout vote may be the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. – Robert Moran is executive vice president at public opinion research firm StrategyOne. The Beltway Barometer is a quarterly survey of elite Washington opinion conducted among a heavily screened panel of Washington area households.