Do the recent events in New York demonstrate a problem with the Obama brand or that the GOP has devolved into a circular firing squad?

This from New York Times columnist Frank Rich:

The governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia were once billed as the marquee events of Election Day 2009 — a referendum on the Obama presidency and a possible Republican “comeback.” But preposterous as it sounds, the real action migrated to New York’s 23rd, a rural Congressional district abutting Canada. That this pastoral setting could become a G.O.P. killing field, attracting an all-star cast of combatants led by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, William Kristol and Newt Gingrich, is a premise out of a Depression-era screwball comedy. But such farces have become the norm for the conservative movement — whether the participants are dressing up in full “tea party” drag or not.

The battle for upstate New York confirms just how swiftly the right has devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy Obama. The movement’s undisputed leaders, Palin and Beck, neither of whom has what Palin once called the “actual responsibilities” of public office, would gladly see the Republican Party die on the cross of right-wing ideological purity. Over the short term, at least, their wish could come true.

Rich identifies the strange, yet undeniable, influence of Sarah Palin on the GOP.

Then came the big enchilada: a Hoffman endorsement from Palin on her Facebook page. Such is Palin’s clout that Steve Forbes, Rick Santorum and Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota governor (and presidential aspirant), promptly fell over one another in their Pavlovian rush to second her motion.

My very good friend, and fellow blogger, Shannyn Moore recently came under some attack on this blog and others, for saying that Palin was still a political force and should not be ignored. She is of course correct, and we are seeing more evidence to back that up on a weekly basis. Refusing to acknowledge that something is happening will NOT make it go away.

Some of you (though it seems most are in fact trolls) have expressed frustration that I seem hesitant to bring Palin down. However if you have been visiting for awhile you know that the work is happening in places other than on this blog. Yes I am still playing a role, but it has been decided that the proper venue for the coup de grace is not IM.

If you have been watching our friend Levi you may already have noticed that all eyes are now on him, but what is happening in other places? Just like when I received all of those scathing media attacks, and all of that wing bat attention, what was quietly going on in other places? The Palin-bots have many eyes but they cannot see everything at once, now can they?

When you see a magician on stage and he rolls up his sleeve to draw your attention to one of his hands, it is the other hand that will suddenly astound you. Keep that in mind.

And what happened in New York may, at first, seem like a victory for Sarah and her crazy ass co-conspirators, but is it? To read the rest of Frank Rich's amazing article just click the title.