It feels good to win.
With the Democrats retaking the House, it feels like the natural order of things has been restored. Of course, no party is entitled to a house of Congress, but the Dems did control it for 40 years. It feels like it should be theirs. Bill Clinton probably feels vindicated, since he’s the one who lost Congress in the first place.
I’m usually a channel flipper on election night, but not this year: for some reason I found myself transfixed by Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, a channel I rarely watch. I can’t look at Chris Matthews without seeing Darrell Hammond.
Some tidbits:
* Not a single Democratic incumbent was defeated last night in a House, Senate or governor’s race – “an unprecedented event since the advent of universal suffrage.” [link]
* The new Senate will have the highest number of women ever: 16. That’s still about 40 seats short of what it should be, but given that there were only 2 sitting female senators as late as 1992, it’s still progress, however slow.
* For the first time, a proposed constitutional amendment to ban any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples was defeated. This happened in Arizona. Also: “Anti-marriage amendments were on the ballot in eight states and were approved in seven of the eight, but by significantly lower margins than in past years.” That’s called looking at the bright side, I guess, but it’s still progress in the long term. [link]
* Democrats now control more governships. More Democratic governors = more potential Democratic presidential candidates in the future.
* “With moderates in the Northeast falling, the Republican conference will grow more conservative.” Also: “The complexion of the Democratic presence in Congress will change as well. Party politics will be shaped by the resurgence of ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats, who come mainly from the South and from rural districts in the Midwest and often vote like Republicans.” [link]
* New visual for (at least) the next two years: Nancy Pelosi sitting on the dais behind the president during the State of the Union address. The first woman to sit there.
Who knows what the future will bring? Complications will likely arise. Politics is politics.
I’m just glad that the horrible 109th Congress will soon be history. No more Terri Schiavo, no more flag-burning amendment, no more Federal Marriage Amendment, no more Dennis Hastert.
It feels good to win.