Happy days are here again?
Last night, the public decisively repudiated President George W. Bush and his catastrophic administration of our country. Democrats won the U.S. House of Representatives decisively and appear on track to control the U.S. Senate by a slim, 51-49 margin. The South Dakota abortion ban was decisively defeated in a referendum, validating a strategy by Planned Parenthood to avoid a court challenge that could have led to a Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade.
On the downside, several state gay marriage referendums passed. If the Democrats aren't able to keep control of the Senate, they won't be able to stop another extremist like Samuel Alito from being confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the power of race-baiting to influence elections in the South, even in the 21st century, was proven by the narrow loss of black Democrat Harold Ford, Jr., in Tennessee after a Republican TV commercial implied he hung out with white women.
I would say the worst moment of the evening was the victory of Sen. Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut. Lieberman lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont over his support of the Iraq War and close relations with President Bush. He won as an independent last night with a heavy cross-over vote by Republicans. Lieberman says he will caucus with the Democrats, meaning vote with them, but if the Democrats end up in control of the Senate by a 51-49 vote, you can count on Karl Rove offering Lieberman a major committee chairmanship and various other favors if he switches parties to the GOP. That would leave the chamber divided 50-50, but with Vice President Cheney's tie-breaking vote, it would remain in Republican control.
In Pennsylvania, it was a Democratic night all around. Gov. Ed Rendell handily won re-election over ex-Steeler running back Lynn Swann. Democratic State Treasurer Bob Casey, Jr., decisively defeated U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, the third-ranking member of the Republican leadership in the Senate and a hardcore rightwing conservative. Santorum had become an embarassment to the state, and the voters sent him packing yesterday. He may be back as a Presidential candidate in 2008, fresh from his martyrdom at the hands of moderate and liberal voters. Bob Bennett, who was a commentator on CNN last night, was talking up that possibility while whining that Santorum had been "targeted" by Democrats.