Election 2006

Just a few thoughts before the late-night bloggers rise and shine and swamp the Internets:
1. The scope of the Democratic victory in this election cannot be overemphasized. It can, however, be underemphasized. We all expect the Republicans to do this. My prediction? The spin will be that the voters weren't voting for Democrats so much as voting against George Bush and the Iraq War. Expect pundits to begin very soon cautioning Democrats that they mustn’t make any big changes because they don't really have a mandate from the American people. Don't they realize, the pundits will shout, that the American people just wanted to send a message to President Bush?

2. President Bush will soon address the nation. He will make a call for bi-partisanship. He will gallantly offer to work with the Democrats. He will whine and sulk a little bit, because he can't help it. He will grow stern and remind the Democrats that we are "at war -- a war against terror, a war for freedom." He will leave the podium to much praise from easily impressed mainstream media commentators and proceed to behave exactly as he has these past six years. He will repeatedly accuse the Democrats of obstructionism.

3. Alternatively, President Bush will get a Playstation 3 for Christmas and will spend the rest of his administration playing video games and refusing to leave his room.

4. The DLC and its ilk have already begun to pitch this election as a victory for "triangulation." They will do everything they can to demonize progressives and the gains they have made and to play up the gains of so-called moderate and conservative Democrats. Having stabbed Lamont in the back, they will claim Lieberman's victory as justification. They also will warn their fellow Democrats not to see the election as a mandate. They will caution against major moves. Expect several of them to come out against Pelosi's "100 Hours" plan. They will frown at the mention of investigations.

5. No one in the mainstream media will gush over this victory as they did over the Republican ones in 1994 and 2002, even though this is a much bigger victory than either of those. The mainstream media will call this being "objective."

6. Nancy Pelosi will make a hell of a Speaker of the House. She will begin immediately. Expect things to move quickly under her watch.

7. Republicans will try to tie the Iraq War to the Democrats like a millstone. From this point on they will try to imply that anything bad that happens is the result of Democratic policies. Eventually, they will try to claim that everything bad that ever happened is the result of Democratic policies.

8. The Democrats have an opportunity here. The one thing that will definitely piss that chance away is if they continue their wishy-washy strategy of "keep your head down and roll with the polls." The voters have put them in a position of leadership and the voters are not going to be forgiving if they fail to lead.