Worst Earnings Drop In Modern History

Fortune is reporting an average 85% drop in earnings at Fortune 500 companies in 2008, the worst report since the series commenced 55 years ago. This week's tea parties demonstrated that the GOP retains an activist base. (Although to put that base in context, the highest estimate of the total turnout at the tea parties is rather less than the paid subscription of Wine Spectator magazine.) But the Fortune numbers remind us that the GOP also struggles under a record of the dismal economic management of recent years. It will take more than activism to re-establish the party's credibility and electability.