brainrow

Oh, yay…

I would really like to celebrate right now. I really would. I got a two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper and a big ol’ bag of potato chips (Snyder’s of Berlin, the best) just for the victory celebration, but I’m not celebrating.

Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives. Yippee.

But somehow, horrible, horrible Jean Schmidt held onto her seat from Ohio’s second Congressional district. The district is alongside the Ohio River — is there something in the water down there?

I can’t take comfort from the fact that I live in Columbus, far from the Ohio River. I’m right next to the 12th district, where rubber-stamp Republican Pat Tiberi just beat the estimable Bob Shamansky, and I live in the 15th district, where Deb Pryce, a member of the Republican leadership in this abominable 109th Congress, has defeated Mary Jo Kilroy. I feel kinda sick.

As I write this, the Democrats might take the majority in the Senate, too. Whee.

It depends on two races that are still too close to call: Democrat James Webb vs. Republican incumbent George Allen in Virginia, and Democrat Jon Tester vs. Republican Conrad Burns in Montana. At the moment Webb leads by a slim margin in Virginia. In Montana, there are still a lot of precincts that haven’t reported, and Tester’s lead is too small to feel safe.

Perhaps I should feel positively giddy — most commentators thought the Senate was out of reach for the Democrats. But after a few months paying attention to Allen and Burns, I have to ask — why are these races close? Both of these Republican candidates are despicable, and should have been laughed off the stage months ago.

What have we gained? The Democrats in Congress next year aren’t going to be able to get any legislation past a Bush veto, that’s for sure. If they join with some rogue Republicans and somehow force something through, Bush will simply tack on a “signing statement” and ignore the law.

Lame duck or not, one of the talking heads on CNN said, Bush will still control the agenda for the next two years.

I’m not so sure.

One thing the Democrats can do now, whether Bush likes it or not, is hold hearings. Exercise oversight. Pull back the curtain and reveal to the American people just what the rubber-stamp Republicans were so desperate to keep hidden.

Imagine two years with a steady drip, drip, drip of truth being exposed every day on the evening news. That might play a role in setting the agenda, don’t you think?

And if the Democrats manage to take the Senate, Bush will have more trouble getting extremist judges onto the federal courts.

Also, with a Democratic majority in the House, maybe we can block any new efforts to dismantle Social Security.

Okay, I feel a little better now.