The Republicans will be lucky to maintain what they have. With someone like Obama running and the MSM leading the cheering section, 2008 can easily become a route.

However, in the long run, the Republican's prospects are lousy. Because the Republicans get so few black, hispanic or asian votes, the Republicans are probably destined to become a permanent minority party.

unlikely, SD. the biggest fallacy with that thinking is that the Democrats really are the best party for minorities. They aren't (in my opinion), but the so-called minoritiy leaders (sharp, jackson, etc) have bamboozled the rest into thinking that the Democrats have their back.

I keep hoping for the day that the blacks and hispanics will wake up to the hyprocacy of the democratic party. Hasn't happened yet, but it will someday. And when it does, watch out.

i haven't seen any voter demographics on the asian populations, but i suspect, based on personal interactions, that they are much more diverse in their political ideology than other minority groups

SD, the Republicans will be a permanent minority party if the current political alignment stays intact permanently. Of course, had the political alignment of 2004 stayed intact forever, they would have been a permanent majority party. That didn't happen, and neither will this.

My inkling is that they will start 2008 at least 6 seats ahead. There are at around 15 Democratic freshmen who only came in with the benefit of a partisan wave. Of course, some of those will be entrenched incumbents and safe by 2008, but certainly some will be very, very exposed. Nick Lampson will have to work very hard and catch a lot of lucky breaks to be reelected for one. Then there are several vulnerable Democrats who were protected by a partisan wave last year who will be vulnerable next time round. Melissa Bean and John Barrow are probably on borrowed time.

The Republicans' problem is that their centre of gravity has moved definitely towards the South. They run the risks that the Democrats had after 1994 of writing off more and more regions of the country. The most sobering statistic for Republicans has to be that there are so few Republican incumbents in Democrat leaning districts at the moment. Many Republicans choose to see that as a sign that the many more Democrats in Republican leaning districts will eventually go down. Maybe they will, but it will take a red wave to dislodge most of them. I personally see it as a sign that Democrat leaning voters are much less inclined to vote for Republican congressional candidates than vice versa, a fact that could risk entrenching the Democratic majority.

Blacks have voted for the Democrats at about 90% since before McGovern was running for president. I would guess that most black voters have never voted for a Republcan for any office. The is not tactic, no position, no campaign strategy that can get blacks to vote for Republicans.

It is known that any congressional district that is 40% black or more is a slam dunk for the Democrats. I would also guess that virtually any district that is majority black and hispanic is also a slam dunk for Democrats.

Hispanics vote at almost 70% for Democrats. Asian-Americans vote at a 65% level for Democrats.

At the high poitn for Republicans such as 2004, the Republicans barely received 50% of the vote. The high point for Democrats will probably get somewhere over 55% of the vote for them (10% difference).

The future of American politics at the national level will probably look like the current situation in Maryland or California:total dominance at the legislature level win an occassional win for a Republican at the statehouse executive level.

good news from Iraq - not if my administration can help it.

But don't worry we will have stolen all the $$$$$ by 2008.
Americans - real Americans - Let them eat cake.

Stupid right wing fools rule - thanks for all your ignorant support.

yours truly,
Dickhead Cheney