Jacob Levy asks why various conservative pundits who strongly supported Bush’s re-election in 2004 have supported a Democratic takeover of the House, or at least treated it with equanimity. The things that are troubling us now about Republicans should have troubled us then, right?

Levy mentions me (very kindly, too). I had three reasons for being more positive about Republican electoral success in 2004 than today. First, I still held out hope then for a reform of Social Security. Second, I wanted Bush to be able to appoint conservative justices–and for that reason, I still want to maximize the number of conservatives in the Senate. Third, I thought that we had a chance to succeed in Iraq and that Kerry’s election would lead inevitably to a precipitous and disastrous American withdrawal. None of those judgments were absurd at the time, I think, although only the second holds up today. It’s enough, though, to keep me from regretting my stance.