Embrace the wave
Optimistic reports of a coming Democratic wave keep flowing in. And it’s scaring the hell out of many Democrats.
From Political Wire, via TPM Café:
New Rothenberg Ratings
The Senate: “While Senate control is in doubt, with Democrats most likely to win from 5 to 7 seats, we do not think the two sides have an equal chance of winning a majority in the Senate. Instead, we believe that state and national dynamics favor Democrats netting six seats and winning control of the United States Senate.”
The House: “Going into the final days before the 2006 midterm elections, we believe the most likely outcome in the House of Representatives is a Democratic gain of 34 to 40 seats, with slightly larger gains not impossible. This would put Democrats at between 237 and 243 seats, if not a handful more, giving them a majority in the next House that is slightly larger than the one the Republicans currently hold. If these numbers are generally correct, we would expect a period of GOP finger-pointing and self-flagellation after the elections, followed by a considerable number of Republican House retirements over the next two years.”
“Oh no, don’t say that,” tends to be the response of many of the Democrats who post comments on the web. “We can’t afford to get overconfident,” they insist.
But I can’t see overconfidence as a realistic worry here. What I feel in the air isn’t complacency; it’s enthusiasm. And we shouldn’t fear it.
It may be just the fuel we need to carry the wave all the way across the country.
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:17 am
maybe not “overconfidence”, but there is this nagging voice in my mind that keeps asking me, if men able to bend the law to give unrestrained power to one of themselves, to torture and make wars just for fun, if men able to buy the courts of justice and change the FourthEstate into “ForTheState”, if men so corrupt that they pour the stream of taxes into their own pockets - if men like that can dare to lose power
anyway - the moment of truth is coming soon
November 3rd, 2006 at 6:41 pm
A bit off topic, but I think I might be changing my mind about Obama. True we don’t have a very good idea of his voting record, but we had NO idea about Bush, or Clinton, or Carter, or Reagan either. Not much from Kennedy, Nothing from Eisenhower. What I want is someone with enough huevos to repeal the Patriot Act; to repeal the Military Commisions Act, to call for trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity against all current and former administration officials. One who will shut down the Gulag. One who will reaffirm our commitment to The Geneva Concentions. And one who will listen to dissentin voices.
Obama may be the one. Then again, he may not.
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Glad to see Chuck is on the same page with me about this administration being held accoutable for war crimes against huminty. I pray for every night.
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the wave will overtake the California governor’s mansion, because Angelides has run, at best, a lackluster campaign. I’m not sure even I can bring myself to vote for him, and I’ve only voted for one Republican in my life, for County Supervisor, and that was because he told me to my face he would support implementation of California’s Medical Marijuana Law. Of course, he lied….and even supported an effort to have the US Supremes overturn the law.
My spouse believes that Maria has a balancing effect on Arnold, and keeps him from getting too “out there”. She’s hoping that by marrying into the Kennedy clan, there will be a personal hell to pay if he tramples on their social justice values. And enough Dems will win the other statewide offices that they can hold Arnold in check if Eunice’s death stare and Maria’s chastity belt aren’t enough.
The polls have been wrong before, but I fear not this time. Old-timer Angelides just doesn’t inspire us or otherwise make us want to support him — not in the primary (where he should have lost to Steve Westly), and certainly in the subsequent campaign. Casper Milquetoast comes to mind.
I just hate it when you have to hold your nose when voting for your own party’s candidate for so high an office. Why was this the best person the party could tap? It demonstrates a dirth of talent that will only come back to bite us in the butt in future elections.
November 4th, 2006 at 2:08 am
We need to pass around Katrina Vanden Heuvels’s article in The Nation: “Bring Home Democracy,” which gives ten good ideas of how to strengthen and repair our broken voting system. I have sent it out to many of my friends and family and asked them to pass it on. If the Republicans steal one more election, we cannot afford to remain silent. It is truly the end of our freedom. After listening to all of these attack ads, I have a very bitter taste in my mouth. Both Democrats and Republicans in this state have resorted to them. If one were to believe the damned ads, we are electing rogues, no matter how we vote. I wish there could be some way to stop this kind of campaigning. I am going to write a letter to the editor about it. We have some very serious issues in this country; and the attack ads ignore them.
November 4th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Here’s a link for Katrina Vanden Heuvel’s article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061120/kvh
Lots of good ideas here, some of which may get a boost from Democrats taking control of the House and possibly the Senate. Other ideas, which threaten the duopoly, may take more action.