552123691_192b10e65d_o.jpgHow bad is it for Republicans? They can't even hold Denny Hastert's seat.

For National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.), every week seems to bring a new set of problems. On Saturday night, things got even worse.

With Democrat Bill Foster’s victory in the Illinois 14th District special election, Democrats now hold the seats occupied only 21 months ago by former Speaker Dennis Hastert (Ill.) and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Texas) — the two GOP lawmakers who ran the House from 1998 to 2006.

Losing two wars and generally flushing the country down the shitter does have its price.

And I love this:

“By itself, this would not be that big of a deal, but coupled with everything else it will just deflate the [House Republican] Conference,” said an aide to one top GOP lawmaker. “And symbolically, losing Hastert’s seat is like the toppling of the Saddam statue in Baghdad for Republicans.”

But yet Scott Pelley doesn't object when St. McCain tells him "60 Minutes" that all he has to do is remind people that he's a Republican and Obama and Clinton are Democrats, and everything will be cool.