Chapter 50.5: Mission Not Yet Accomplished

For many Democrats, the victories that will give the party control of the House and its apparent victory in the Senate, taste like dessert after six years of humiliating losses. And today's announcement of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's resignation seems like the cherry on top.

But I believe the honeymoon will not last too long. If comments like those of Howard Dean and even Rahm Emanuel are any guide, voters expecting an announcement of troop withdrawals in the near future will be sorely mistaken. During his color (blue) commentary on CNN, Paul Begala spoke of how control of the House will enable Democrats to provide "oversight" on the progress of the war. Oversight? The only oversight most voters are willing to accept is that Democrats will "forget" to find a significant committee chair in the Senate for John Kerry.

Personally, I suspect both Dean and Begala and others are correct and the campaign vitriol will subside. With the election over and Rummy sipping margaritas on spring break, Democrats will search for a face-saving way of not pulling out of the war (and let's face it, doing so too quickly would be a tragic, irresponsible mistake). Depending on how change happens, it will clearly have ramifications for the run for the White House -- not only regarding who wins, but who runs.

As a self-avowed (moderate) Democrat, I believe it's significant that the party won yesterday. But we should no more fly "mission accomplished" signs in Congress or over state houses than President Bush should have landed on an aircraft carrier hoisting a similar message. The mission has just begun. Let's see some honest politicians for a change

Chapter 50.4: Vote Early, Vote Often

It's here, and the pressing question is whether it will be more popular than this year's World Series. That's right, it's midterm Election Day.

Overheard on the street this morning: a homeless man stopped a gentleman on the street. "Excuse me," said the gruff looking guy. "What day is it today?"

The man heading off to work said, "November 7th."

"Is it a holiday?"

"No. It's Election Day."

"Oh," the homeless man replied. And I heard no more.

Chapter 50.35: If Anyone Cares

For those few people who actually read this blog, if you're wondering my opinion on the very tight NJ Senatorial race, I think Sen. Menendez will win. However, I think Tom Kean Jr. has shown himself to be not only a strong candidate but potent enough to run for other roles in the future. He might even be able to unseat Sen. Lautenberg in a couple years or run for his father's old job in 2009.

Chapter 50.3: Slapdash Prediction

Guess what, there's an election tomorrow! I played around with the election map on the New York Times site. Based on what I was thinking at the time (and since I don't live in Missouri or Montana, I can't say I really know a darn thing), I plugged in who I thought was going to win. The results: 50 Republicans, 49 Democrats and Joe Lieberman as an Independent, which means the Republicans would keep control of that house of Congress. I didn't have time to plug and play with all the up-for-grabs House races, but I'm thinking the Democrats will take a small majority there. Enough to save face in this mid-term fracas. May we live in interesting times.