One problem I can already foresee for the Democrats in Congress is some of the more short-sighted people saying that they’re not getting anything done if they concentrate too much on repairing things in DC and in our standing in the world. I hope, I really hope, that there’s someone wise enough to pull out the old signs they had on the streets in Manhattan. “Dig we must for a greater New York.” Well, it’s time to place a bet with Hercules to muck out the stables of Washington with the waters of the Potomac, or maybe a few cases of Deer Park, whichever’s cleaner. I don’t think I’m alone in not fully trusting this government. It’s kind of a “Smack me upside the head once, shame on you, twice, shame on me” kind of thing.
I hope they realize just what they have to do.

As far as divided government, I thought that’s what the whole checks and balances thing was supposed to be for. I guess that works well in high school classes, not so well in real life. We all need to make sure our represnetatives are actually, you know, representing us.

Now we have to wait and see what the Democrats do. Are they going to be smart and play the game as centrists or are they going to go overboard and alienate many of the people that put them in power?

See, I’d like to say that people voted for the Democrats and for what they represent. I don’t think that they did. This election was about voting against Bush and voting against the party that has supported him for the last six years. I’m already seeing a faster buyers remorse from people then with Bush after ‘06 as they sober up and realize just who the Speaker and the Majority Leader will be.

The Dems are going to have to work hard to not act like power mad twits in the next two years. ‘08 will come really fast and there will be other seats up for grabs and no Bush to vote against. Whether they do what’s right or whether they play to the far left of their party in the next fourteen months will weigh heavily in getting people to decide to vote for them on the next few election cycles rather then against them. And they have to do it against a party that has become far more skilled then they at organizing and creating a message and getting into the public conscious through the echo chamber.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing them go back OUT of power in the House and Senate by only a small margin while having the Presidency go Democrat. That has always seemed to me to be a good formula.

I’m kidding, of course.

George Will agrees with you about the value of a divided government. I find its value to be a bit more dubious. There are times when we need to come together in order to resolve great problems — like the war in Iraq. I wonder if we’ve lost the ability.

It’s been said, however, that if the Dems want a shot at the presidency in ‘08 they can’t risk looking like obstructionists. The same may hold true for the GOP. I hope they all recognize that and start trying to find sensible compromises, rather than allowing our country to remain at horse latitudes while we continue to lose ground in the war on terror.

Already Rumsfield is gone so some good has come of it.