Hillary’s candidacy would be strengthened, I think, if the Republicans retain power in the House and Senate in November. A loss of the House and Senate and the attendant attacks that will surely be staged on the Bush administration, its judges, etc., might well fire up the GOP base and get it primed for the next showdown. Ramesh suggests as much today in the Times. But if the Bush years continue to be an example of single-party domination in Washington, by 2008 the sense of policy exhaustion and the need for new faces may seem overwhelming not only to Democrats but to an insuperable majority of independents. Under those conditions, maybe even Hillary can seem like a fresh face.