Humbling GOP Defeats Don't Bode Well for Midterm Races

By Ronald Brownstein for the Los Angeles Times:

WASHINGTON — For Republicans across the nation, the best news in Tuesday's election may have been that more was not at stake.
With President Bush facing his lowest job approval ratings and polls showing widespread dissatisfaction over the country's direction, the GOP suffered a series of bruising blows — from decisive losses in the New Jersey and Virginia governor's races to the clean-sweep rejection of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot initiatives and even the resounding defeat of Randy Kelly, a Democratic mayor in St. Paul, Minn., who was hurt politically because he campaigned last year for the president.
But many Democrats, and even some Republicans, said Tuesday's outcomes offered a preview of the difficulties the GOP can expect next fall if the party cannot improve its standing before then.
"The waning of enthusiasm for Bush and his presidency is national," said veteran Democratic pollster Stanley B. Greenberg. "The dynamics look different today than the dynamics that enabled [Republicans] to win the presidency and hold their control of Congress" in recent elections.