Republican Rep. Tom Davis does not mince words with Al Hunt on Bloomberg TV:

AL HUNT: We begin the program with Congressman Tom Davis. Congressman, you wrote this now famous 21-page memo about the Republican problems this fall. You say it's the worst environment you've seen in 30 years. The Politico this week talks about the GOP crash. Things don't look good. What two things could the Republican Party do right now in order to head off a disaster in November?

REPRESENTATIVE TOM DAVIS (R-VA): Well, two things - number one, they've got to get some separation from the president. The president is the face of the party. He is absolutely radioactive at this point. And they're seen as just in lock-step with him on everything. They've got to go back and establish - I'm talking about Congressional Republicans at this point and McCain, to a certain extent.

MR. HUNT: How do you strike more distance than they are right now?

REP. DAVIS: Well, you don't have to -

MR. HUNT: And, as you know, Karl Rove said they ought to align themselves with the president.

REP. DAVIS: They've done that. I mean, they've done that on SCHIP and they've done it on stem cell and they've done it on the war. And, in every case, they've walked down an alley where they're 30 percent of the electorate. And that makes you a permanent minority.