In today's midterm election the Republican Party kicked some serious posterior. As I write this just before midnight West Coast time, the RealClearPolitics website shows the following results.
So far the Democrats have lost seven Senate seats to the Republicans: AR, CO, IA, MT, NC, SD, and WV. Three races remain to be decided: Alaska, Virginia, and Louisiana. We should know about Alaska tomorrow sometime.
The Virginia Senate race is so close it will probably go to a recount. In Louisiana none of the three candidates got 50% of the vote, so the two with the highest vote totals - Landrieu and Cassidy - will go head-to-head in a December runoff Cassidy is expected to win.
The night's really unexpected outcome has been Republicans winning several governor's races in which they were believed uncompetitive. Who would imagine GOP candidates would win the governorships in deep blue states like Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland?
The Dems picked up one in Pennsylvania. Several remain to be decided. Of particular importance was the win by union-busting incumbent Scott Walker in Wisconsin.
In the House, the GOP so far has won twelve seats held by the Dems. and the Dems have won one GOP seat, for a net GOP gain of 11.
If this election isn't a wave it is the biggest ripple I ever saw. Republicans who were supposed to be in trouble turned out to be safe. Democrats who were supposed to be safe turned out to be in trouble, and most of those lost.
There is no way this election was anything other than a repudiation of the Obama administration and its policies. At the very least, the rhythms of the next two years will be different as the odious Harry Reid joins Nancy Pelosi on the dungheap of history. Expect many Obama vetoes.
I've lived through any number of November Tuesday nights where the results were not to my liking, the most recent two years ago. I propose to enjoy tonight fully, high fives and big grins all around.
