There will be no 2008 presidential election. Some time before the election is to take place there will be a staged event which will give the current president an excuse to declare martial law. From there it all goes down hill.
As long as gas is affordable, food is still on store shelves, and cable TV is still filled with crap ... well, no one will care. Those who do will be shipped to Gitmo, and those who really resist will be killed.
The transition to an outright police state will be so smooth that you'd think it had been planned for decades ... which is correct: IT HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR DECADES.