The news stories are starting to trickle in. At this stage, obviously nothing more than idle speculation and a few characters like Ted Kennedy who like to light a wee spark under the situation. We have the whole of next year to see which way the winds blow in terms of the house elections, but my bet would be at least a 20-25% swing vote away from the more conservative elements of the GOP which will hit hardest in the Southern states. The Dems may not perform spectacularly well next year, but I think it will definitely be a case of good enough to feel optimistic about a solid win in 2008. Without an incumbent seen as the lesser evil, it's always going to be an interesting race and in this case, the pre-election build-up and the follow-through from the house and senate elections next year will, I believe, favor the democrats much more than the GOP.

GOP candidates are in for a challenging task of realigning their party along a more centrist line with hopefuls like Senator McCain having to tone down the angry religious right base that has kept Bush in power. It will indeed be a kinder, gentler and more realistic Republican party that faces against (most likely) the might of the Clintons. Personally, I wouldn't put money on anyone running against the Hillary/Bill ticket.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_el_pr/kennedy2008