Appears Dems will Lose Control of the House

The House will be run by the Republicans and they have a chance to take over the Senate as well!
by Charlie Leck

Nate Silver, New York Times political analyst has pessimistic news for progressives. He sees Republicans gaining ground, giving themselves a “decent” chance of taking over the Senate and an improvement in races for the House. He gives the GOP a 72 percent chance of taking over the House.

In the Minnesota gubernatorial race, Silver gives Mark Dayton, the Democrat, a 72 percent chance of winning. In Minnesota it looks like all incumbents will retain their seats in the House and, of course, we have no contests for Senate seats.

In Wisconsin, testing 8 polling services, Silver sees a defeat of Russ Feingold as nearly certain. That’s a dagger to my heart and really bad news for Democrats.

In California, all polls point to a Barbara Boxer win in her Senate race. The Democrat, Senator Wyden, will win in Oregon and it appears Washington’s Democrat, Patty Murry, will win up in that corner of the nation. In New York, Schumer will win big for the Democrats and it looks good for progressives in the eastern states of Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and Vermont. Hawaii will also return the Democrat, Daniel Inouye, to the Senate.

Here are the states, in addition to Wisconsin, where Democrats now hold the Senate seat that will probably change over to Republicans… Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

Toss-up races for the Senate include Nevada, where Senate Leader, Harry Reid, is trailing right now by a point or two. Add to that toss-up category the states of West Virginia and Illinois, both currently controlled by Democrats.

There is not one Senate seat, currently in Republican hands, that is in danger – not one!

I don’t mean to be bitter about this (although I am), but this means a tremendous victory for the corporations that have been dabbling big-time in this election (thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court).

Who votes in America? Corporations or the People?
These will be major questions to struggle with in the aftermath of this election.

Is the Tea Party a winner?
Whether this can be considered a big victory for the Tea Party has not yet been determined. Paul’s win in Kentucky has been a foregone conclusion for many weeks. Marco Rubio, the Republican endorsee for the U.S. Senate in Florida was also endorsed by the Florida Tea Party. He’ll win going away, but is it a win for the Tea Party? Nevada is a key state for the Tea Party. Sharon Angle is their baby! A victory there will give the Tea Party strong bragging rights!

The biggest question
It’ll take quite a while to answer the biggest question about the election year: What happened to all those excited followers of Barack Obama? We’ll have a book or two written on the subject, I am sure!

Here’s my prediction
2012 will be very, very different. Big corporation involvement in this election will be exposed by then. The conservative attack on important institutions like Medicare and Social Security will wake some people up. It’s going to be a helluva scrap!

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War Decisions Loom

Coming week will highlight direction of Iraq war
by Charlie Leck [20 April 2007]

One senses the build up! Senator Harry Reid made some very strong statements today about the futility of the war in Iraq. He sees it getting far worse as long as there is an American presence in that nation. The President is vowing to veto any bill that puts an end-date on the war. The Congress is threatening not to give him a funding bill without such a date.

This, of course, is the wonder of a divided government. Such circumstances lead to real debate and consideration of possibilities. Try to ignore the high winds next week and concentrate instead on the calmer breezes where real deliberation and give and take will happen -- where compromise is likely to happen if the President has an ounce of diplomacy in him (something he hasn't shown to date).

The Republican Senators will be worth watching also -- especially those who will be up for reelection in 2008. They clearly recognize how unpopular this war is and how low the President's approval rating is. They will need to cast their votes carefully.

The President will bellow a great deal, but he knows the handwriting is on the wall. Believe me, he knows! This war can not go on much longer. The violence builds everyday. So do the exhibitions of hate for America all over the world. We have lost our position as world leader and we probably need to regain enough respect to assume that role again.