As House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader-elect Harry Reid, D-Nev., measure the drapes for their new suites, all eyes turn toward the 2008 election.

Will the 2006 Democratic sweep presage a Democratic victory in 2008, or was the 2006 election merely a referendum on President Bush's Iraq policy and congressional Republican incompetence?

Will President Bush's current unpopularity continue to dog the GOP? Can Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., ride the wave of 2006 into the White House, or will she face a serious challenger from within her own party?

Do the Republicans have a bona fide contender waiting in the wings?

If anything, the Democratic victory boosts Republican chances for 2008. Democrats have reason to celebrate their return to majority status, but there are dramatic silver linings for the Republican Party.

President Bush's popularity will begin to rise as soon as majority Democrats begin obstructing his agenda.

Republicans gained seats in the House and Senate in 2002 and 2004 because Americans perceived that Democrats were preventing fair hearings on President Bush's judicial nominees, blocking Social Security reform, preventing a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, and undermining the war effort. Continued...