DEMOCRAT kingmaker James Carville said his party would need "a lot of reassessment" after Republicans strengthened their hold on Capitol Hill. "I had hoped and thought we would do better," said Mr Carville, the strategist often credited for engineering Bill Clinton's political victories. "But we didn't and as a party we need a lot of reassessment right now. We didn't do that well in 2000, we didn't do that well in 2002 and we haven't done that well in '04, so I think it's necessary that we go through some tough times now and look at what we're doing and where we're going as a political party."
| As a party you're drifting further and further to the left and identifying closer with Euro parties. That's not necessarily a bad thing — it gives voters a choice between a social democrat approach and a conservative American approach. The three main faults I see with the Dems is their affinity for corruption, their intolerant espousal of social radicalism, and the fact that they're built as a coalition of often competing voting blocs. All the Republicans are at least moving in the same direction, and our "party line" leaves lots of room for differences in opinion. |
It was thought the Republicans would be vulnerable, especially in the swing states, but instead the party increased its majorities by perhaps five seats in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate.
| The Dems have their choice: change their direction or explain it away. I'm betting they'll explain it away one more time. It's too easy being Left... |
"Across four southern states it's a clean sweep for us," gloated Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
| ... and there's a reason for that. |
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"With a bigger majority, we can do even more exciting things," added House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
| That's usually what happens when things swing your way... |
Most disconcertingly for the beleaguered Democrats was the demise of one of their most senior politicians, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, of South Dakota. Senator Daschle, in his 18th year in the Senate, was beaten by telegenic Republican John Thune, a former member of the House of Representatives who narrowly missed winning the state's other Senate seat two years ago. He was the first Senate leader to lose a re-election campaign in more than half a century.
| Two things against Daschle: he lapsed into party-line liberalism and didn't reflect South Dakota's values; and the stench still lingered from Thune's last defeat. As majority leader, Sad Tom was on a national stage, all eyes upon him, so he looked silly when he tried campaigning as a conservative, just like the folks back home. |
One of the few bright spots for Democrats was the election of the charismatic Barack Obama to the Senate from Illinois. Mr Obama, who became a rising star within his party at the Democratic national convention, is only the third black to be elected to the chamber since Reconstruction. The lawyer, who had been serving in the state Senate, called his triumph extraordinarily gratifying and said he hoped to work with members on both sides of the aisle to achieve the things Americans needed to achieve.
| He's been presenting himself as quiet-spoken, intelligent, and the voice of sweet reason. If that's the real him, he'll be a star. If he pulls off the mask to reveal that he's really Al Sharpton or James Carville, forget about it. |
Because of rezoning of districts in Texas, four veteran Democrats lost their seats in the house.
| Revenge was especially sweet there, since the Dems came up with their own classic gerrymander to maintain their own power a few years ago. |
Republicans will now have control of the lower chamber for 12 consecutive years â the first time they have achieved that feat since 1933. Except for a brief period in the 1950s, Democrats ran the Congress for 60 years until 1994.
| During that time they managed to expend all their ideas, and to prove most of them were wrong. That's why the Publicans are on top right now. It'll still take a few years for us to get hidebound and lose all our originality of thought. |
Among the bitterest defeats for Democrats was the victory in Louisiana by Republican David Vitter. The maverick southern state has never in its history elected a Republican to the Senate. Democrats also felt Nick Clooney would hold an open Kentucky seat. Clooney, a former Cincinnati television newsreader and father of actor George Clooney, was soundly beaten by businessman Geoff Davis. 
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