The Wall Street Journal's John Fund notes that the Republicans didn't do all that well "down-ballot" on Election Day:

Republicans lost control of the Oregon Senate, the Washington Senate and the Vermont House. In Minnesota, they walloped the Republicans and narrowed a 28-seat GOP advantage in the state House down to just two seats. Democrats elected half the state representatives in Rochester, home of the Mayo Clinic, for the first time in history....

...The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus re-elected all of its endorsed incumbents and even won three of the five open seats that had been held by supporters of a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage.

...In Hawaii, that state's popular governor, Linda Lingle, saw the voters ignore her appeals for a more cooperative legislature as unions picked off several Republican incumbents. California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was similarly disappointed in California, where his party failed to gain a single seat in the Legislature despite his 65% approval ratings.

Republicans have motivated a lot of voters -- but outside the South they've alienated many, many other voters. Democrats can build on that distrust, and they should in '06 and '08.