The Hill thinks so. They write today of panic on K Street. OK, maybe it’s just anxiety, but those Republican lobbyists are not happy.

Nine months after Republicans were routed in the midterm elections, campaign observers, K Street lobbyists and political experts say there is little evidence the party can rebound in 2008.

The same bad news — the president’s low approval ratings, opposition to the war in Iraq, and the lingering taint of congressional scandal, from the Jack Abramoff investigation to Sen. David Vitter’s (La.) involvement with the alleged “D.C. Madam” — leave observers skeptical that the GOP can dent Democratic majorities, let alone reclaim power in the next election.

“The only thing that has changed is that everything that was bad got worse,” said Bernadette Budde, political director of the Business Industry Political Action Committee. BIPAC supports business-friendly candidates of both parties, though most of the group’s donations go to Republicans.

Gosh. Maybe they should think again about supporting Democrats. The latest Rasmussen poll is showing that Americans support Democrats on every single issue. Democrats are more trusted on Iraq, immigration, the economy, even on taxes. That’s tough to beat, eh? Maybe these pro-business types should consider jumping on the bandwagon. The Washington Post ABC News poll is more bad news for the Republicans. They’ve lost the independent voters, and they’ve lost the support of average Americans on every single issue. Yeah, these two polls are coming up with nearly identical conclusions. And it seems each poll that comes out has worse and worse news for them. Yeah, I expect next week’s poll will be worse still. Don’t go getting soft and feeling sorry for them, though.

The Republican problem is that the bad news is making them scared. They are running from their version of the YouTube.com debate in September. Oh, John McCain is going, as he has nothing to lose, but Mitt Romney is thinking he doesn’t want to talk to a snowman, and Rudy has already booked a convenient scheduling conflict. They are so scared to talk to real Americans, like the ones polled by Rasmussen, that they’re staying away, far, far away, from any kind of debate that isn’t mediated by some regular old media spokesman. Hey, there’s even some criticism from the right of these guys and their fear of the YouTube.com debate in September. Patrick Ruffini is right that not participating in the YouTube debate, not having the guts to face real Americans, is going to hurt Republicans badly, but don’t expect the Republican candidates to listen to him.

You know, these candidates are acting like George Bush. There he is in his bunker, rarely doing press conferences anymore, rarely talking to real Americans. These candidates have to stick with Bush to satisfy the 28% that still supports him, the Republican base, but that means there are 72% of Americans they are beginning to fear to face without some FauxNews talking head playing interference for them.

All in all, it looks like it’s going to be a good morning.