Heath Shuler’s in Congress now?

What ever could be next? Peyton in Miami?

Hmmmm.

Election post placeholder…

Seriously, folks…

Not terribly surprised that Santorum lost, but surprised that he lost by so much.  Really too bad about Michael Steele.  And Mark Foley lost – but by a narrow margin (an interesting sttempt by the GOP to try to save the seat)

Kate O’Beirne on the general results:

During the “Iraq War Mid-terms,” Republicans were going to lose seats this year but could have limited the damage. I predict that in the future they will police their ranks and lean on the crooks and cheats in their midst to step aside. If it is true that “corruption” was a top concern for voters, Republicans could have insulated themselves some by delivering on ethics reform. Maybe they will learn that there are worse things than giving up their perks – like giving up their majority.

Democrats are the party of government — as we will now be reminded. Republicans lost the mantle of being reformers when they became so darn comfortable running things and seemed to be only concerned with keeping things that way.

Many conservatives appeared to be detached from the political troubles of President Bush that put his fellow Republicans in trouble. With conservatives also discouraged about the progress in Iraq, there wasn’t much rallying to the defense of “their guy.” That might have been different had he vetoed a few big spending bills or led the fight for border security. I hope his future explanations about his intent with respect to Iraq is more strategic than stubborn.