GOP experiencing worse conditions than after Watergate?

The title of this post is taken from a Washington Post article, These Days, a Not-So Grand Old Party. While I recommend the article, some selected parts:

From the intoxicating heights of President Bush's 2004 reelection victory, the GOP has fallen into a state of disrepair that rivals the party's low ebb after Watergate in the 1970s. In some ways, conditions may be worse today than they were then.

Whoever leads the party into the 2008 general election will be saddled with responsibility for charting a vision that offers independent voters a credible break from the record of the past few years while reenergizing a conservative coalition that has been vital to the party's achievements.

The party's political success over the past three decades was built by assembling a conservative coalition based on economic, security and moral issues. Consider the ways in which Republicans have surrendered the high ground on all three.

First, opposition to the Iraq war has dramatically reduced the GOP's advantage on defense and national security issues.

Second, the party that once prided itself as responsible stewards of the public's money has squandered its reputation for fiscal discipline.

Third, on moral issues, the party faces a crisis of hypocrisy.

While I realize the war is considered by many to be the number one issue, from my part of the U.S., the financial responsibility aspect is one of the more frequent complaints heard. On the issue of morality, from a historical standpoint many of our elected officials breached what as preached as moral behavior. The main difference now is that people are more aware of these areas considered moral misconduct, and there are many people out there that expect politicians to be less than honest. While we may hope as we pull that lever or mark that electronic voting screen that the person we are voting for will actually follow through on their promises, all to often it's realized the promises were false...