But I guess that's just the secular humanist in me. There is a bit of truth, however, in the GOP talking points about Dowd's personal issues.

After having lived through the death of a child, one he barely knew, the reality that its possible that he could lose another child to his "lover's" increasingly-obviously misguided Iraq policy must be quite the hearty shot to the gut. We should also give Dowd credit that, despite his obvious connections, he did the right thing by not seeking a less dangerous deployment for his son.

Obviously, we all wish Dowd's son well. But if he does happen to be the last son to die for a mistake, Dowd, unlike most parents of deceased soldiers, will truly have no one to blame but himself. And that is a very heavy burden indeed.

"when suddenly a great-hearted figure appears who lights a candle in the darkness. "It's almost like you fall in love," Dowd professed."

Membership in the club of Bush true believers is limited to rank opportunists and kool-aid slurping fundie rubes. Matthew Dowd is no kool-aid drinking fundie rube, so that narrows down the possibilities a bit. His integrity and character are doubtful.

Let’s close this revolving door between the Republican and Democratic parties. People like Dowd cannot be allowed to f**k up our country with impunity and then make a non-confession confession and expect all to be forgiven, only to switch parties again the next time there’s a shift in the direction of the breeze.

As one of those "provincial losers" (thanks, Sid) doing time in a state capital, I doubt that any of Dowd's contemporaries in Austin believed for a second that his leap onto the Bush bandwagon was due to Bush's talent for encouraging bipartisanship. At every level of government, Democrats are well aware that working for Republicans leads to more money, better perks and more opportunities down the road. That temptation is always present. Unless one believes that Dowd was clearheaded before 2000, suffered through seven years of temporary insanity, but now can see clearly again (just in time to catch the shift in political winds!), then it's painfully obvious that his switch to Bush in 2000 was just an opportunistic sell-out. Which, of course, makes him a perfect creature of Washington, D.C.

Lee Atwater didn't express true remorse either. What he did was to engage in a literal attempt to "get right with Jesus" once he knew death was upon him.

Whether Matthew Dowd's conversion is genuine or not only time will tell. If he really means it, I suspect that many of the questions that Mr. Blumenthal poses will be answered in time. But unless Mr. Dowd has a truly shocking revelation that provokes impeachment procedings, asking about the sincerity of his conversion misses the point. What we really should be asking Dowd is "what are you prepared to do about the problem you helped to create?"

As far as I'm concerned, he could go off to Africa and engage in "mission work" for the rest of his life and it wouldn't come close to balancing the scales for him. If he wants to make amends, about the only thing he can do is to help discredit this president by exposing him for the corrupt moral coward that he is.

Dear Friends:

Many of you were not raised in the Southern way nor do you understand the utility of confession in Southern politics. A confession, even a false one, covers a multitude of sins. Ergo we watch vapid liars, crooks, and cranks parade across the political stage as we gape, astonished at their mendacity, and amazed that no one else gets it. Tom Delay: born again and an honored speaker at many a Christian gathering. Why in the midst of his Texas legal problems, a local fundamentalist megachurch here in Houston had him lead Bible studies. George W. Bush, born again and certified cleansed by none other than that paragon of Christian virtue, Jerry Falwell. Newt Gingrich, born again? Maybe not, but married three times he was, and Pope James Dobson absolved him of his sins. Mr. Dowd is employing a time honored Southern tradition that gives everyone, even vapid liars, a second chance. As I was raised in a Southern Baptist tradition, and many of Salon's readers haven't a clue what that means, let me fill you in. Mr. Dowd is engaging in an altar call confession except rather than walking the aisle, then weeping uncontrollably on the pastor's shoulder, Dowd expects that his painful "revelation," his soul searing "introspection" made public in print, will right his past wrongs. If you hang around a Southern fundamentalist church long enough, you'll occasionally see the same person walking the aisle everytime an appeal is made for the congregation to "rededicate" their lives. Maybe in Dowd's case, the cure will "take," but my money is on him NOT ending up in Africa anytime soon. Follow the cash, and at the trail's end, there you will find Mr. Dowd, an opportunist till the end of his time.

Matthew Dowd's conversions from democrat to republican and then back to democrat, smacks of political opportunism of the worst kind. Where was his moral meter when he unleashed republican dirty tricks, what did he ever see in George W. Bush while governor of Texas, that convinced him that Bush was the man for both democrats and republicans? Did he not know that during Bush's tenure as governor, capital punishment reached its ugly zenith? Did he not know that Texas was on its way to a prison economy as George W. Bush crowded jails, prisons and penitentiaries with offenders (mostly minorities) that kept the capitalist engines greased with free labor? And was "every child" really living a tenth of Bush's opportunities? When I read his mea culpa in the NYT I had to barf. Who was he trying to assuage but the mean spirited republicans who saw welfare mothers as freeloaders while cheerleading the freeloadings of Kenneth Lay and Enron at the expense of the taxpayers; the demonizing of the Arab world while expediting the "rapture" for the second coming, so christians could bring "democracy" even if they had to kill every last Islamist in Iraq and Afghanistan; Oh please Matthew Dowd, people like you should just go away and find fame and fortune elsewhere. Who knows where he will hang his hat should the democrats remain spineless and let the republican machine mow them down again.