{"id":9743,"date":"2006-11-08T06:51:45","date_gmt":"2006-11-08T13:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/11\/08\/we-win.html"},"modified":"2006-11-08T06:51:45","modified_gmt":"2006-11-08T13:51:45","slug":"we_win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/11\/08\/we_win.html","title":{"rendered":"WE WIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday’s election was, to my mind, a victory for just about everybody — except for those candidates who lost, of course, and one particular group of citizens.<\/p>\n

The Democrats, of course, got the biggest win. They’ve won the House, and, if not the still-hanging Senate, a close enough loss there to make possible defections of moderate Republicans a factor in any legislative proposals. They get to show what they’re about, and what they can do, and they can at least stem, if not reverse, some of the one-party agenda of the last six years.<\/p>\n

The Republicans get some victories, too. They may have held the Senate, which gives them a leg-up on the next Supreme Court nomination, as well as the various intrinsic powers that the majority gets in that chamber. Even if they lose there, the margin is so tight that the Dems will have to worry about conservative Democrats bolting any legislation that leans too left. And, most importantly, they’ve won a scape goat for 2008 — they can always point to the Dems and claim they’re responsible for
\nany problems that crop up between now and then. Those “plusses” all accrue to the White House, regardless.<\/p>\n

The citizenry won, too. They gave notice that they’re willing to change their mind, that they’re willing to back another party when one has been in for too long, and that they’re not simple sheep to be herded along — at least not too easily. And, despite dire conspiratorial predictions (and a fair number of glitches and dirty tricks), they retained enough power to change the House of Representatives, at least.<\/p>\n

There are some losers, of course. The GOP can’t help but regret the loss of the House, where they’ve run things since 1994. The Dems haven’t won the Senate yet, and now they have to lead with a coherent agenda. And the citizenry has to deal with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Gah.<\/p>\n

The biggest loser of the night? Karl Rove. Yay!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As for my own electoral selections? Well, living where I do, the chance of any of my local candidates winning is always a long shot. I did get my gubernatorial choice selected, though I do have a few qualms about one-party rule in the Colorado state government (though it’s not like our Dems here are frothing radicals in the first place). But Tom Tancredo (cringe) is still my US Representative, and the other local officialdom for my county remains Republican.<\/p>\n

Colorado, though, has officially moved to the Blue camp. We have a majority (4-3) of Dems as US Representatives (though we do have Tancredo, and Musgrave, after some struggles early last night, is also back in DC). The governor, and both state houses are Dems, too — overall, with the Congressional delegation, a combination not seen (I’m told) since Eisenhower was in the White House.<\/p>\n

On ballot propositions — the results were okay<\/a> in comparison to my votes<\/a>. Not great, but okay.<\/p>\n

Good Things<\/u><\/p>\n