The Wall Street Journal's Gerald Seib sets the stage for the 2008 presidential election:
Record numbers of voters are choosing to declare themselves politically independent - and thus open to moving either left or right. Both the Republican president and the Democratic Congress are receiving historically low public-approval ratings, another sign of voter unease. More broadly, the Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll has in recent months found the nation to be in the midst of the most prolonged period of public dissatisfaction in 15 years, as measured by the share of voters who say the country is 'on the wrong track.' In one sense change is inevitable. This year marks the end of what can be considered the Reagan-Bush era in American politics that began when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980. In six of the last seven general elections, a candidate named Reagan or Bush has appeared atop a national ticket, defining a brand of internationally engaged conservatism that has been the dominant strain in American politics for more than a generation.
Seib's piece is a comprehensive look at the questions facing the American electorate at the beginning of a new year. Most important among those questions: Change to what? Who knows? One thing's for sure, however. Read Seib's piece back-to-back with John Harris's report on Republican funk (not the musical kind), and you get the distinct impression that 2008 will not be kind to the Grand Old Party.