The America of 2006 is different from the America of 2000 and 2004. The disillusionment with the war in Iraq is widespread. The horrors of civil war and rising American casualties have undermined optimism and triggered frustration. The economic picture is not much better. Globalization has not been kind to American industry and American labor. The rising cost of oil casts a pall over economic activity and threatens inflation. The ethnic transformation of America, dramatized by the massive entry of Hispanics into the American population, awakens nativist fears. politicians seeking office will have to address all this discontent and anxiety.