Joe Duffy (JoeDuffy.net)

Many years ago I was a two-time executive board member of the North Fulton (GA) Young Republicans.  I’m no longer young.  As I got older, I preferred to describe my political beliefs aligned more with conservative ideology than any political party.

As I transitioned into a middle aged Republican, my eyes were opened to the fact that both parties are guilty of putting partisan needs ahead of the country’s well being.

I preferred to align myself with ideals. When my choice lost, rather than proving I was smarter than those who voted for the winning candidate, I judged the elected official on performance and not which letter is in parenthesis after his or her name. Conversely, when my chad hung for the right person, blind defense of such elected official could not enter the equation.

So there you have my leanings on the table, but I honestly believe I’ve always had a political slant, yet never a bias.

I generally have been pretty accurate predicting the outcome of elections, my rooting interests never shading me.

Most observers were shocked at the last major election. The Republican Party became the first since Franklin Roosevelt to win both the White House and gain seats in both houses while already holding a majority.

Mind you, I can’t say I have the political handicapping skills to match my sports prognostication abilities, but I foresaw the Democrats losing the last elections much more so than the Republicans “winning”.

Their Presidential frontrunner Howard Dean and lead attack dog Tom Daschle rallied the far left but alienated the center—the undecided—with melodramatic, Chicken Little, sky-is-falling rhetoric.

Dean plummeted quickly in his party’s own primaries and Daschle, once unbeatable is now a private citizen thanks to a contingency that tired of their refusal to keep the debate honest. George Soros, Hollywood and Air America cheered the venom and histrionics, while the undecided gave more power to an unpopular majority party.

Republicans clearly, two years later, are hell bent on returning the favor. The right wing counterparts to MoveOn.org, Al Franken and the incorrigibles have commandeered the party.  Republican insurgents such as Jerry Falwell, Anne Coulter, and Michael Savage may feel invigorated by their party’s Gambling Prohibition. But every survey I have ever seen says that rank and file Americans believe in the right to bet five bucks on how many points will be scored on the Monday Night Football game.

This political handicapper believes—and with a conservative slant at that—the Republican Party’s insistence on kowtowing the right-wing fringe is a gamble that will fail miserably.

Joe Duffy is CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com your source for free sports picks from the nation’s top handicappers as well as exclusive sports betting information.