US Congressional Elections

[Osmose]

The results of the Congressional elections are fairly complete. The basic rundown is that Democrats have regained a majority in the House and the Senate... sort of.

Democrats have a majority in the House for sure, and Democrat Nancy Pelosi will become the first female Speaker of the House in history.

The Senate, although still said to belong to the Democrats, is a bit closer. Vermont's winner, Bernard Sanders, won running as an independant, and has a history of disagreeing with both Democrats and Republicans. However, he has grown closer to Democrats over the years, including support for abortion and opposition to the death penalty.

Another election that might confuse people is that of Connecticut - Joe Lieberman ran as a third-party candidate and won. This is because he lost the Democratic Primaries. His incumbent advantage and Democratic alignment won him the election.

In fact, both Lieberman and Sanders have said that they will caucus with the Democrats.

With 99% precincts reporting, Webb, the Democrat in Virginia and the last close-vote, is leading by 7000 votes. His opponent, Allen, will surely request a recount (As is his right if the vote difference is less than one percent).

Side Note: I cannot remember if it was Montana or Virginia, but my father told me that one of the two had 3 precincts not reporting - one had to have it's machines opened and counted and had around 200 people. The other two had zero because of zoning errors - one was a "test" zone for testing voting machines, and the other was the land under a river - and since fish are generally Democratic, there's no danger there.

So Democrats have taken control of Congress. But will they be able to push their agenda against President Bush? There's still two more years left of Bush, and if the Democrats fail to initiate a change in governmental policy by the time his tenure is up, they could lose credibility and support for failing even with such a huge anti-Bush sentiment across the country.

My personal thoughts are that this January we will see two things: A flood of legislative reform, and a slowdown in the voting process. Democrats are generally more about cooperation than one-sided domination, and as such will not show the same determination Republicans did in getting bills passed - midnight votes, shutting out Democrats from committee hearings, etc.

I, for one, hope they can pull it off and start some reform.

[Meiscool-2]

I for one am mostly democratic, so I'm pleased with this so far. Now that Bush has someone to "rate" his opinions, things will probally take a turn. This turn might not be "better", but I can't see it being worse.

[ZeroKirbyX]

Well, these aren;t just democrats. They're flaming liberals. That means everythin Bush says is wrong, everything they say is right, and our country will become one giant pussy afraid to do anything.

Yes, I'm a republican. Deal with it XD

[Razor]

Can't wait for the Clinton clan to get back in the whitehouse!

[Prpl_Mage]

Gods...  American politics are great, so much more entertaining then the Swedish one.
Mostly the voting system and all but still, entertaining indeed.

[Cosmos]

Originally posted by Razor
Can't wait for the Clinton clan to get back in the whitehouse!

YES!! FUCKIN YES!! I love CLINTON.   Bill The only person who can get away with cheating and still be loved! Vote Hillary!!

[GaryCXJk]

Yes, vote Hillary, who wants to ban half of all videogames!!!

[Cosmos]

That's like one thing? Besides, it really has to do with games like Streets of new york, vice city... and since the only real game that I play which has to do with guns is Metal gear, I could care less... now if she was to go after square, it would be a problem.  

[SaiKar]

Originally posted by ZeroKirbyX
That means everythin Bush says is wrong

But... but... everything Bush says IS wrong...

[plightofthepureblood]

heh.

Im all for change...even if it doesnt DIRECTLY effect me.

But I dont think very much is gonna change. It'll hype everyone into liking US policies again, for a while. But If these dudes get thrown a terrorist attack, or natural desaster, or any obstacle whatsoever, theyre going to be under the magnifying glass. Which is a shame. I hope Im wrong there.

[Glitch]

Oddly enough, I agree with Plight. There won't be that much of a change, they don't have enough of a majority to be able to pass all of their bills. The democrats ran with alot of conservative democrats this year, which could mean that they might lose some votes in certain cases.  

Oddly enough, given my republican status, I actualy think it is a good thing the dems won the house.  I may disagree with alot of their views, but I am very much so aware of the fact that the past few years it's stopped being about what is best for the country, and become just both parties refusing to support whatever the other party said. A little change now and again is never a bad thing.

But I swear to God if Hillary Clinton gets elected I'll personally come to each and every person who votes for her, and kick them in the throat. I can't stand her. I couldn't care less about Bill, but Hillary bugs the crap out of me. Stupid man woman... all she ever does is press "Hot Button Issues", she's a freaking media w h o r e.

[Almeidaboo]

Originally posted by SaiKar

quote:

Originally posted by ZeroKirbyX That means everythin Bush says is wrong

But... but... everything Bush says IS wrong...

[Razor]

*kicks Almeidaboo* No! Bad Almeidaboo! Quote posting is bad!

Originally posted by Glitch
But I swear to God if Hillary Clinton gets elected I'll personally come to each and every person who votes for her, and kick them in the throat. I can't stand her. I couldn't care less about Bill, but Hillary bugs the crap out of me. Stupid man woman... all she ever does is press "Hot Button Issues", she's a freaking media w h o r e.

Insert the age old rebuttal of "But she isn't George W Bush!" here.

[Drace]

Originally posted by Osmose
Democrat Nancy Pelosi

I read Democrat Nazi Policy here.

[Black Massacre]

Originally posted by Midnight
Vote Hillary!!

Don't listen to her, she's just jealous that we can afford great games and she can only afford metal gear solid.

Bad, Mid.