A New Start!

Today is really a momentous occasion, though work has kept me from blogging as much as I'd like. Republicans find themselves in the minority, Bush loses his rubber stamp, and Nancy Pelosi became the first woman elected Speaker of the House and the first woman ever in the direct line of succession for the Presidency, right behind Dick Cheney, who got kicked out of his Capitol office.

From the AP:

WASHINGTON - Jubilant Democrats on Thursday elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the first woman speaker of the House, the crowning celebration of newfound power the party won in the November electoral sweep.

"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people," Pelosi said. "In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country."

Both Democrats and Republicans pledged cooperation despite years of bitter partisanship and gridlock, to try to get the 110th Congress off on a productive note.

House Democrats also were ready to impose a ban on gifts from lobbyists and a clampdown on travel funded by private interests — measures crafted in response to the ethics scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.

The first hours of the new Democratic-held House were devoted to Pelosi's election and remarks — for which the Californian received numerous standing ovations, especially from the House's record 71 women lawmakers, thrilled that one of their own had finally ascended to the speakership. Some of the women senators also came to the House side to cheer Pelosi's history-shattering moment.

"This is an historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of this country," Pelosi said. "It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years."

Harry Reid was also elected Majority Leader in the Senate, also promising bipartisanship - something that will be a necessity in the Senate. With Sen. Johnson recovering in the hospital, our vote margin is tiny. We'll have to have some support from the other side of the aisle on many things, though the most important thing about regaining the majority in both houses is Committee Chairs in the hands of Democrats.

The 'Hundred Hours' (which hopefully turns out better than the 'Hundred Days') may or may not have started. Nobody ever really clarified exactly how the literally timing would work. Look to see wildly popular legislation on the minimum wage, stem cell research, and ethical reforms in government to make it into the news soon.

The last two months were a sort of waiting game, knowing that nothing important was going to change. Now we've reached the threshold. Now change can start. Now the real action begins.

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing where this new Congress takes us.

Nancy Pelosi Democrats Congress

Pelosi is the Next Speaker of the House

From Fox New's newly blue website:

WASHINGTON — Current Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was unanimously chosen by her caucus Thursday to be speaker of the House, becoming the first woman to be ensured the job that constitutionally is second in line of succession to the presidency.

Of course Fox News couldn't resist piling on about the 'earth-shattering, party-destroying infighting' going on in the fight between Murtha and Hoyer. Our party is run as a democracy - complete with vigorous debate - and not a top-down, authoritarian juggernaut. And despite the fact that it's messy at times, it's a good thing.

Nancy Pelosi Fox News

Democratic Pickups

From Roll Call: States in Red voted for Bush in 2004, states in Blue voted for Kerry.

Democrats who have defeated incumbent Republicans:

Arizona 5: Harry Mitchell (D) 51%, J.D. Hayworth (R) 46%

California 11: Jerry McNerney (D) 53%, Richard Pombo (R) 47%

Connecticut 5: Chris Murphy (D) 56%, Nancy Johnson (R) 44%

Florida 22: Ron Klein (D) 51%, Clay Shaw (R) 47%

Indiana 2: Joe Donnelly (D) 54%, Chris Chocola (R) 46%

Indiana 8: Brad Ellsworth (D) 61%, John Hostettler (R) 39%

Indiana 9: Baron Hill (D) 49%, Mike Sodrel (R) 46%

Iowa 2: Dave Loebsack (D) 51%, Jim Leach (R) 49%

Kansas 2: Nancy Boyda (D) 51%, Jim Ryun (R) 47%

Kentucky 3: John Yarmuth (D) 51%, Anne Northup (R) 48%

Minnesota 1: Tim Walz (D) 53%, Gil Gutknecht (R) 47%

New Hampshire 1: Carol Shea-Porter (D) 51%, Jeb Bradley (R) 49%

New Hampshire 2: Paul Hodes (D) 53%, Charles Bass (R) 45%

New York 19: John Hall (D) 51%, Sue Kelly (R) 49%

New York 20: Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 53%, John Sweeney (R) 47%

North Carolina 11: Heath Shuler (D) 54%, Charles Taylor (R) 46%

Pennsylvania 4: Jason Altmire (D) 52%, Melissa Hart (R) 48%

Pennsylvania 7: Joe Sestak (D) 56%, Curt Weldon (R) 44%

Pennsylvania 10: Chris Carney (D) 53%, Don Sherwood (R) 47%


GOP open seats lost:

Arizona 8: Gabrielle Giffords (D) 54%, Randy Graf (R) 42%

Florida 16: Tim Mahoney (D) 49%, Mark Foley/Joe Negron (R) 48%

Colorado 7: Ed Perlmutter (D) 55%, Rick O’Donnell (R) 42%

Iowa 1: Bruce Braley (D) 55%, Mike Whalen (R) 43%

New York 24: Michael Arcuri (D) 54%, Ray Meier (R) 45%

Ohio 18: Zack Space (D) 62%, Joy Padgett (R) 38%

Texas 22: Nick Lampson (D) 52%, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R) 42%

Wisconsin 8: Steve Kagen (D) 51%, John Gard (R) 49%

Too Close to Call (incumbents are marked with *):

Connecticut 2: Joe Courtney (D) 117,434, Rob Simmons (R)* 117,211; 97% reporting

Georgia 8: Jim Marshall (D)* 80,401, Mac Collins (R) 78,719; 98% reporting

Georgia 12: John Barrow (D)* 69,991, Max Burns (R) 66,604; 96% reporting

New Mexico 1: Heather Wilson (R)* 100,027, Patricia Madrid (D) 98,724; 99% reporting

Ohio 2: Jean Schmidt (R)* 113,932, Victoria Wulsin (D) 111,609; 100% reporting

Ohio 15: Deborah Pryce (R)* 119,208, Mary Jo Kilroy (D) 107,947; 100% reporting

North Carolina 8: Robin Hayes (R)* 60,500, Larry Kissell (D) 60,032; 100% reporting

Pennsylvania 6: Jim Gerlach (R)* 118,807, Lois Murphy (D) 115,806; 100% reporting

Pennsylvania 8: Patrick Murphy (D) 125,667, Michael Fitzpatrick (R)* 124,146; 100% reporting

Washington 8: Dave Reichert (R)* 61,555, Darcy Burner 58,900; 31% reporting

Wyoming At-Large: Barbara Cubin (R)* 91,828, Gary Trauner (D) 91,006; 99% reporting

It's a nice distribution between Red and Blue states. I wanted to find out which Presidential candidate each of the districts voted for in 2004 but that information seems to be impossible. You can get the presidential vote by county, but not by congressional district.

It seems that Democrats now control the political high-ground in the North East. New Hampshire went from Bush in 2000 to Kerry in 2004 and replaced its two Republican Representatives with Democratic ones in 2006. In Pennsylvania, three Republican representatives are gone, two more seem likely to be removed though the races are close and haven't been called yet. Rick Santorum, third ranking Republican in the senate is gone and Governor Rendell (D) beat his Republican opponent by 20 points.

New York and Connecticut saw consolidation by the Democratic Party.

Republicans still hold the South, though this year saw inroads. The new battle ground will be the west. We showed gains there too.

It's important to remember that we won't hold onto all of these seats in two years. There just won't be a climate this good again. Some of the traditionally Red districts will revert. What won't 'snap back' is the gains made in the North East.

We need to govern well for the next 24 months. After years of inaction and defernce to the Bush Administration, the American people expect (and deserve) strong governing from the Democrats. There should be inquiries into BushCo. malfeasance but there should also be progress. Speaker Pelosi has outline the first 100 Hours of a Democratic House. That's a great start. A law requiring paper trails for all elections wouldn't be a bad addition. Do that while voting problems are fresh in the minds of Democrats and Republicans.

2006 Election Results

Our Iron Lady

Time has a profile of Nancy Pelosi:

"The 66-year-old San Francisco lawmaker is an aggressive, hyperpartisan liberal pol who is the Democrats' version of Tom DeLay, minus the ethical and legal problems of the former Republican House leader."

Overall, it's an even-handed profile. It shows an unapologetic liberal getting things done in congress. It points out the fact that there is no more logic in attacking somebody for being 'too liberal' than being 'too conservative,' if in a round-about way. It shows how opponents on both sides of the isle have tried to run against her a 'too liberal' and lost. That fact is one that the whole party would be better off having learned.

The profile really acts as an introduction to the woman that will be Speaker of the House. The first woman to be Speaker of the House. And that quote '... without the ethical and legal problems' was great.

Nancy Pelosi Democrats Liberals