It was probably fortunate that I didn't follow the elections returns too closely last night, given the end result. I had a feeling the Republicans were going to get smacked upside the head this time around, considering that, despite having their largest majority since Bush took office, I couldn't think of anything truly useful that they'd gotten done in the last 2 years aside from confirming Bush's two Supreme Court nominees. I am one of those types who votes for Republicans more because they're not Democrats; last night, I think it's fair to say a good number of people voted for Democrats because they're not Republicans.

This six year cycle of Senate seats has not done well for the Republicans since they won in 1994. That year, they won 19 of the 33 seats available; in 2000, they lost 4 of those to drop to 15, and now they have dropped another 6 to hold just 9 of the 33 seats available in this cycle. They had 13 prior to the 1994 sweep to power.

Meanwhile, I can only hope that gridlock will prevent anything too outrageous from getting passed in the next 2 years. With any luck, the Democrats might actually figure out how to bipartisanly share power now that they will be setting the agenda in the House and possibly the Senate. If they instead focus on Bush-bashing on a level that compares with the Clinton obsession by Republicans in the late 1990s, that is likely to blow back in their face come 2008, particularly since Bush isn't running again.

Free advice to the Dems - you finally got Bush in terms of electoral payback in Congress this year. Take the victory and move on.

- Posted by in Politics at 2:24 PM