Dave,
Thanks for this... we tend to get into little snits about "who's more conservative" or "Democrat tidal waves" or "we need more of x type of people, we're losing that demographic!" arguments, and forget the key to all of this:
The amount of work put in.
People look back at the Engler era, and think of it as a mythical time when everyone in this state was a Republican, and we got our way, and everything was easy.
But to do that discounts all the hard work that you all put in to it, and the hard work we have to put in this year and next to turn the tide.
What we do next year is up to us... and will only look easy after we've won it. Nothing is preordained, and the stars are lining up in our direction--if we take advantage of it.