Was gonna say what Auggie said, but he already said it. Many, many people were at least willing to give the democrats a listen. But the ultra left wing of the dems ran the show until late in the campaign when Kerry hauled in all the ex-Clintonistas. They almost pulled the rabbit out of the hat, but by then I think the damage had already been done. Kerry choosing to dwell on the Vietnam war for the first few months of the campaign was just absolute suicide. America wants to put that memory to bed. He woke it up.

Don't forget that the Republicans picked up FOUR senate seats, and a few seats in the house. Bush's win was significant, mostly because of the size of the popular vote (approx. 3 million vote lead) but the real story is in the senate. Daschle lost. The sitting Democratic leader was defeated in his own home state. The Republicans pick up three other seats. Barak Obama and Ken Salazar are big wins for the Democrats, but they were dim candles indeed compared to John Thune and the others. This, my folkies, is where the real story of the next few years will be written.

I've said it before, will say it again. The Presidency is largely a figurative power. He can introduce legislation, but cannot pass it. He can veto bills, but cannot guarantee his veto will not be overridden. The real power resides in the House, Senate, and now more than ever in the Judiciary.

I sure would like to be a fly on the wall in the first Democratic Senate caucus of the new term.

Freightdawg