The Morning After.

There’s no way to spin this election cycle. The Congressional Republicans pretty much got what they deserved.

It has been said that the GOP did nothing but play defense during this campaign season. But in the grand scheme of things, what else could they do? The Iraq war has become increasingly difficult with no tangible benchmarks in months. Combine that with President Bush’s approval rating hovering around 35-40% for the past year and you had the perfect scenario for a Democrat onslaught. Despite the fact the Democrats never came out with a discernible agenda, they were able to win by linking Republican incumbent’s voting records to the President’s policies.

I also have to give credit where credit is due. Rahm Emmanuel, who was named Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2005, put together an aggressive recruiting strategy. He successfully went into Congressional districts which were considered Republican strongholds and wooed Democratic candidates who were moderate to conservative. If the Democrats learned anything from getting shellacked in 2004 it was that liberalism is widely rejected throughout “fly over” land. For the first time in my lifetime, the Democrats were able to raise funds (thanks mostly to radical left-winger George Soros and MoveOn.org) dollar-for-dollar with the GOP in ’04….and they still couldn’t get it done.

So the Dems have captured the majority in the House (and, in all likelihood, the Senate, too). Now what? For 12 years, the Democrats have been like the proverbial dog chasing the pick-up truck down the road. Rarely is a dog ever able to catch the vehicle. But I have always wondered what would happen if the dog closes the gap and finally pulls ahead.

That query will be answered emphatically within the next two years.