President George W. Bush may be struggling in some areas, but he's also responsible for the heightened interest in national politics in what should be an off year for political news.

"In Washington, people are always looking ahead to the next race, but now you've got many people in America also looking ahead to the next election," explains Craig Shirley, author and Reagan historian, as well as CEO of the conservative-leaning Shirley & Banister Public Affairs. "To some degree, it ...