By Susan Page, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The political landscape for the 2008 presidential election is shaping up with a decided tilt in the direction of Democrats.
Long before either party has settled on a presidential candidate, fundamental factors that lay the groundwork for next year's election — from anti-war sentiment to a drain in GOP-leaning voters to the simple patterns of history — are creating significant hurdles for the Republicans who hope to succeed President Bush.
Republicans' main hope: that the strengths of their particular nominee and the weaknesses of the Democratic one will offset their uphill climb.
"A Democratic candidate could go out there and muck it up and raise questions about his or her competence or judgment," says Andy Kohut, director of the non-partisan Pew Research Center. "But the landscape really is tilted in a Democratic direction."
As the Republican contenders gather tonight at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., for their first debate, some of them acknowledge that the nominee who emerges from their ranks isn't likely to be as fortunate as President Reagan. His campaign for the White House in 1980 was boosted by a political climate that had soured toward Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter amid angst about inflation, energy supplies and American hostages held in Iran.
rest of article @ link below:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-05-02-gop-landscape_N.htm 
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