Race at a glance
Dems win the House. The Senate hangs in the balance. All eyes on Virginia.
The Washington Post has withdrawn projections of a Ben Cardin win. The Dems have picked up NH 1, according to Real Clear Politics, leaving 5 seats to go until House majority. Steele refuses to concede. Yep, it's going to be a long night.
Webb wins by 2,200 in Virginia. There may be a recount. But who knows?
posted by wretchardthecat at 11/07/2006 07:13:00 PM
5 Comments:
Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 17 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 3.75 points.
Opinion polls have shown Democrats could recapture control of the House of Representatives from Republicans for the first time in more than a decade.
US Stock Futures
A few years with Democrat politicians in the spotlight can be a good thing before we reach 2008.
To tell you the truth, I'm hoping a shake-up forces the GOP to find the willpower to do something about illegal immigration, tax reform.
The question is now, will the Democratic sponsors overplay their hand and reveal their true agendas?
Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 17 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 3.75 points.
The myth of the Bull Elephant. Under Bush, the Stock Market has risen an average of 1.5% a year. Whoop de doo.
eggplant,
The Israeli experience probbly provides a good comparison. Faced with the difficulty of a security threat they retreated, some would say, into pacifist fantasy. But the enemy eventually brought parts of Israel under threat and the response, when it came, was still half-hearted. Olmert temporized and another war in Lebanon is expected presently.
This is probably what will happen to America. There is now a much smaller chance that the terrorist problem can be resolved at a low level of conflict. There is a great likelihood that it will be allowed by neglect or paralysis to metastize into a canker which will develop into a catastrophic confrontation in five or ten years time. A likelihood, but not a certainty.
The comparison with Israel fails in that the US is the world's security Central Banker. The sheriff of last resort. Other countries could wobble as long as the Central Banker stood firm. Now the Central Banker itself is wobbling. The UK, Europe, etc could count on America to be the security underwriter of last resourt. But who will come to America's rescue if America will not come to it's own?
If America is lucky then a national security consensus can be rebuilt before the catastrophe. But America's lucky streak has just come to an end. One philosophical way to look at it is that September 11 simply wasn't enough to fatally damage the appeasers. That plus the missteps of the Republicans. There are some who argue that the Democratic party itself will start to show strains when it tries to govern, because of tensions between its left and right wings. But if it hasn't happened yet, why should it happen now? No. Washington is too insular. It will take external shocks: sad, hearbreaking ones to wake it up. I don't know where it will come from but I'm sure the enemy is thinking to provide it.
At any rate, it's a new political game. With North Korea, Iran, Iraq on the burner and Nancy Pelosi running the House there will be enormous stresses and it may be a challenge to simply hold against the threat. The time of easy security is past. Now the world must fight for its life.
Despite my depression at the election results and Eggplant's trenchant analysis, I can only hope that the democrats regain, along with congressional leadership, some semblance of responsibility. Though I doubt it. I think that this election will be a shot in the arm for moon-battery and partisan extremism. I only hope that the republicans don't rise to that bait too. The times are too serious.
The saddest thing was that this loss could have been avoided had the republicans stuck to their positions on fiscal responsibility and policed their own crooks.
Internationally, I so hope Eggplant's predictions are wrong, though I share them.
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