Jay Cost has graciously accepted an invite to guest blog in this space for the next week.  For those who aren't aware, Jay is a graduate student in political science at the University of Chicago and one of the most astute young political analysts around. He ran the widely acclaimed Horserace Blog in 2004 and recently authored a great three-part series for us looking ahead at Election 2006 (Part One, Two, Three). We're honored to have him.

I'll be lurking in the shadows this week and may pop in from time to time, but for the most part, it's going to be Jay's show. So without further ado...