Originally Posted By DAR Let me preface this by saying I think the Democrats will win tomorrow. But hey nobody picked the Dolphins this weekend. But what if the Republicans manage to keep control of both the House and Senate? Will there be hand wringing from the Democrats? Gloating from the Hannity's of the world?
Originally Posted By TomSawyer There'll be gloating from all parts of the GOP, including the administration. And there will be far, far fewer ballots cast on touch screen machines with no paper trail in 2008.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip << But what if the Republicans manage to keep control of both the House and Senate?>> The end of the world as we know it. It isn't going to happen though, so I'm not worried about it. There is absolutely no way the Republicans will retain the House.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Unless the Democrats take the House AND the Senate I dare say we will see relatively little change.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer The House can still run some investigations without the Senate's involvement, and the president will no longer have a rubber stamp that will approve anything he wants to do.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I think the President would be the first to admit that he hasn't had an easy time of working with the Congress...even though his party has been in the majority.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 If the Democrats do take the House, that sound you'll hear late Tuesday night will be shredding machines working overtime in Washington. <a href="http://www.wonkette.com/politics/dick-cheney/shreddin-with-dick-211028.php" target="_blank">http://www.wonkette.com/politi cs/dick-cheney/shreddin-with-dick-211028.php</a> Cheney's also preparing in advance not to testify to anything: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061105/pl_afp/usvotecheney_061105193106" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20 061105/pl_afp/usvotecheney_061105193106</a> "US Vice President Dick Cheney said he would likely refuse to testify before Congress if he is faced with a subpoena from the opposition Democratic party."
Originally Posted By DlandDug Yes, it will be the end of the world if ____(fill in the blank)____ gets/retains power tomorrow.
Originally Posted By cmpaley If the Republicans retain power, we will see an acceleration of the erosions of the freedoms that have made this country a beacon around the world. If Democrats gain power in the House, we will see that erosion slowed. If Democrats take both houses, we *may* see a restoration of some of the freedoms lost under absolute Republican rule and possibly some pretty harsh investigations into Bush's activities.
Originally Posted By jonvn If the democrats win the house, I doubt anything will change. If they win the senate too, I doubt anything will change. If the republicans win both again, I know nothing will change.
Originally Posted By DAR Post 9: What has been lost since Bush took office? I've been hearing about this for the last six years now, but I want concrete examples. Nothing has changed since and nothing will.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj Unfortunately, it would be better for the GOP to win this round. The economy is heading into a deep recession in 2007, one that has already begun in parts of our economy. The war in Iraq has no easy exit strategy. If the Democrats get control, it really is a no win situation and they face another role reversal in 2008 when the problems that have developed over the past 6 years gain steam and get worse. I don't envy anyone who honestly wants to fix the ills of our government right now. Americans have a tough pill to swallow to get back on course, and I doubt that any political group with the guts to administer any of the medicine will be all that popular 2 years from now.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I think that's absolutely correct. If the Democrats control the House, I don't think they'll try for big things - the tough medicine we need on things like Medicare spending on the boomer generation. I think they'll concentrate on smaller, doable things like raising the minimum wage, ethics reform, some environmental legislation... things like that. Even those things face the prospect of a veto, so I don't think they'll go for the grand gesture. If someone runs in 2008 and convinces me he/she really WILL be looking at the tough systemic questions, that person will garner my keen interest, regardless of party. And I think he/she will have to start by leveling hard with the public immediately - in the so-called honeymoon period when he/she still has lots of political capital, especially if it's not a squeaker of an election.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF I'm not an optimist. I think the Democrats have gotten a bit too smug, thinking there will be a lot of victories. I also think the marriage amendment in WI will pass. Not sure about the provision against civil unions, though.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<I'm not an optimist. I think the Democrats have gotten a bit too smug, thinking there will be a lot of victories.>> I think taking control of the U.S. Senate is pretty unlikely, but the House almost seems a lock. I'm not sure about things at the national level, but locally the democrats still seem to be scrambling and taking nothing for granted. Well, except for me. I'm smug as hell. I almost wish they could let Beau back in for one day so I could gloat. ;-)
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>Well, except for me. I'm smug as hell. I almost wish they could let Beau back in for one day so I could gloat.<< He wouldn't show up. It would be sweet, though, to be a fly on the wall of his place when the election returns come in.
