This still is a liberal court & I guarantee you it will be that when GW leaves. This country is run by liberals & will continue. GW thought he could blow Harriet Meirs by us sheeple. Unless death none of those phoney justices will retire & it appears that the dems will take the next election due to GW's debacles of late & stack the court.
However, it would have been more of a liberal court had Kerry gotten in there. One conservative SCJ and a moderate SCJ would have been replaced by 2 Ginsberg liberals.
The next election is a ways away. It all depends on the choices. If our side gets a nominee who can speak and persuade and is likable he will win. The first two elements - speak and persuade - are critical because it's always 2 to 1: Dems + Media against us. We need another Reagan who can reach the public over the heads of the media.
Dubya does it masterfully in one on one interviews but is weak in public speaking. We have few in Congress that can speak well either. It's our achilles heel.