Brand W

National Journal's Hotline has a memo from a Republican pollster, circulated by RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, warning GOP candidates that "We are now brand W. Republicans," and that attempts to distance themselves from the president will only backfire by hurting the brand. That seems weirdly question-begging: The point of distancing yourself from Bush is precisely not to be seen as a "brand W. Republican." The pollster warns that "if he drops, we all drop." But if you take it for granted that the antecedent is going to be true ("he drops"), then the only way to dodge the consequent ("we all drop") is by loosening that if-then link as much as possible. In other words, panicked Republicans presumably just think that the entailment is less locked in stone than the premise.