22 days later

white house 'almost inexplicably upbeat' about elections
from washington post: Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

and why are they so upbeat? perhaps this seemingly unironic headline from the new york times can help explain why they're so positive: democrats have intensity, but GOP has machine

what machine? are they talking about this machine? or is it this machine? or maybe it's this one? i guess we'll find out in 22 days.