The Senate
It was so good to see the American people give victories to Sen.-elect
Elizabeth Warren (MA), Sen.
Sherrod Brown (OH), Sen.-elect
Joe Donnelly (IN), Sen.
Claire McCaskill (MO), Sen.-elect
Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Sen.-elect
Tim Kaine (VA). The Senate, which six months ago was in danger of switching to the Rethuglicans, remains solidly in Democratic hands (Dems Sen.
Jon Tester and
Heidi Heitkamp are leading won in Montana and North Dakota, respectively
but their races haven't been called yet). Senate Minority Leader and unintentional turtle impersonator Mitch "Missy" McConnell will have to establish a new top priority for his flock in the Senate, other than defeating President Obama, who won't be running again.
Watching Neanderthals like
Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin (MO) and
Richard "Rapist's Gift to Women" Mourdock (IN) go down in their respective
red states was wonderful, and should send the clearest possible message to tea baggers. Add them to the Senate seats they've thrown away in the last election, with Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, and Ken Buck in Colorado.
The House
Democratic hopes of regaining the House were always a long shot, but they did chip away at the Rethuglican majority by picking up eight seats. Some of the brightest spots were the defeat of tea bagger favorite and hot head
Joe "Deadbeat Dad" Walsh (IL) by Iraq war veteran
Tammy Duckworth, and lunatic wing nut
Allen "Commies in Congress" West (FL) by Patrick Murphy. Progressive firebrand
Alan Grayson returns to Congress after a two-year break. Sadly, uber wingers
Michelle "Minnesota Loon" Bachmann and
Steve "The Lying" King were reelected, with Bachmann narrowly escaping defeat.
Overall assessments
If you want to read a powerful assessment of where the Rethugs went off track,
read Jonathan Chait in New York Magazine. At the outset of Obama's first term, they decided to oppose
everything that Obama supported. They wanted to make the economy fail so that Obama and Dems would be blamed. They lost the bet big time.
Similarly, E.J. Dionne
weighs in on the failed strategy of Rethuglican obstruction and where Obama was able to better represent the positions of the middle class.