The morning after the night before

The Democrats have won the House, Nancy Pelosi is Speaker.  The Senate is likely going to go the Democrats as well, but no winners have been called in Virginia or Montana.  Missouri went south over night.  Recount is likely in VA, but unlikely in MT

 

There is no other way to describe this than awful.  It's not a disaster, but it's close.  As far as I can tell the Rs didn't win anything really close, and no D incumbant lost.

 

To put it in perspective, for a sixth year midterm this is relatively normal. But so what?  This is what normally happens in the cycle - but normal isn't good enough in a time of war or for what was supposed to be a vaunted Republican political machine.  Voters basically said "get out of Iraq".

 

At least that's the message everyone has heard: take Hezbollah and Michael  Moore for example.

 

More analysis:

• RealClearPolitics - first headline: the bush presidency is over
• Hewitt - lots of bad, some good; McCain is to blame.
• Mark Steyn -  congrats to the Democrats, our side lost
• David Frum - some democrats are worse than others

Here's the bottom line: Bush has lost serious political capital and will have to find ways to compromise while still prosecuting the war.  Americans rejected the modern Republican party - soft on spending, soft on corruption, lost in Iraq, 

 

Americans did, however, embrace the center and the traditional definition of marriage.  And Arnold won in California.  It's not all bad. 

 

But it's pretty bad.