The Political Value Of Ideas

I think that Chait is basically right here, especially where "new ideas" are concerned. There is a caveat, which is that ideas and quality of governance aren't entirely inseparable; a Bush administration that didn't have such catastrophically bad ideas as the invasion of Iraq and upper-class tax cuts as the only substantial economic policy wouldn't have left the Republican candidate as vulnerable (and this is especially true in the 2006 elections, before the economy completely tanked.)