Our Long National Nightmare Is Over

Well I think it's finally time for me to go to bed. It's been a long day- 20 hours since I pulled that big metal lever of democracy. Hopefully by the time I wake up in the late morning (and hopefully by the time you are reading this), the results will be finalized and we will see that a President and his Congress who worked to divide Americans and kept democracy in the shadows were rejected by the American people. It also turns out- gosh!- that voters are turned off by pervasive, widespread corruption. The system our founders created for us still works. We stood up to our failed leaders, we made our voices heard, and we threw the bums out.

So where do we stand now?

In the House of Representatives: The Democrats won big here, with a gain of around 30-35 seats. Many, many incumbents lost what were assumed to be safe seats. Nancy Pelosi will be the first female Speaker of the House, with a mandate to enact her 100 Hours plan for domestic policy. This is the big blowout victory of the night.

In the Senate: I don't want to jinx this, but it does appear that the Democrats have won this house of Congress as well (at worst, it's a tie). The three closest races- Montana, Missouri, Virginia- all moved toward the Democratic candidates when the final numbers came in. In Montana, John Tester ended with a decisive lead and has likely won. In Missouri, Claire McCaskill has won the election with a solid lead after some nail-biting earlier on (her opponent has conceded). The contest of the night was Virginia- incumbent George Allen v. Jim Webb. The final numbers have Webb ahead with a good lead and he has declared victory. Sen. Allen has not conceded yet and a recount is said to be expected from his campaign. The results of that will determine control of the Senate, but it doesn't look good for the Republicans.

What a night.

On the big issue of the election- Iraq- we have a clear mandate (or demand) for change. The people have rejected this President and his war. The President and Karl Rove and the rest for years have said opposing his war is tantamount to supporting/appeasing terrorism. Surprise-- the majority of Americans told him to shove it. Stubborn as he is, even he must be made to realize this. MSNBC had a poll tonight on what voters says we should do in Iraq (send more troops, change nothing, withdraw some, withdrawal all)... 'withdraw all troops' was the majority. That may not happen, but it is clear that the neo-neoconservative position held by people like McCain that the 'change' people want in Iraq is to escalate our way to victory (whatever victory means at this point), rather than preparing an exit strategy and deescalation, is false. This war was a mistake; the patience of Americans is officially worn out. We need to find a way out and start on the long road to getting our foreign policy back on track.

Domestically, we will likely see a lot of populist issues being fought for (minimum wage increase, etc) and a general return to fiscal sanity, but no big ideas (ie. universal healthcare) until at least after the 2008 election. Oversight, accountability, and a return to checks and balances will also help get Congress back to its intended functions.

Enjoy this moment. Savor it. We won. I'd forgotten what that felt like.

[PS- The President will give a news conference at 1pm EST today. I hope to see a humbled Commander-in-Chief addressing his nation. Expect to see the lesser Republicans, though, spend the rest of the week cannibalizing each other, trying to pass blame in every direction but their own for why they lost, as always happens in a race like this.]