Wow!
48 hours (And a few hours of sleep later), I'm ready to run down the night. There were quite a few big moments, stories, and early parallels that I noticed.
-First and foremost, GlenAllen Walken was elected President. This is big for a couple of reasons, first and foremost because the Republicans have the White House back after 12 years of Democratic control. How will again-President Walken deal with the world, as many of them have a view of him as a gun-toting redneck, earned from his 3 days in the White House and his rhetoric on the campaign trail. And how will Walken work with a Democratic majority in the House, as well as a moderate Republican in charge of the Senate?
-Vice President Liz Clark. The words "Wow!" come to mind. Women have flocked to Clark, and privately, some prominent female Democrats have expressed concern that Clark could be a transformational figure, and bring women into the Republican fold like never before, simply because of her mere presence. This can already be seen, as women voted for Republicans in numbers unheard of, but the question now becomes, can it last?
-The Matt Santos story has yet to be written, but when it does, tonight will play a big part. The downfall of the Santos Administration is intriguing-How in 4 short years does someone go from transformational figure to failure? A continuation of one of the most successful Presidencies in history to a downtrodden man? The escalation in Kazakhstan certainly didn't help, and the downturn in the economy certainly didn't either. But what doomed Matt Santos was the way he responded to them-Badly, if at all. It's up to history to see how he will be judged, though I anticipate that he will have a long, prosperous post-Presidential career.
-The future of the Democratic Party is suddenly at stake, as the moderates and liberals have begun positioning themselves for control. While this so-called "civil war" is in its infancy, it seems inevitable now. And without a single uniting figure for the party to rally around, it seems like no one could stop this. Yet to be seen!
-Democrats do have some good news: They still have control of the House of Representatives! This means that Walken will have to negotiate on his tax plans in order to pass them, and there will probably be at least one or two high-profile investigations of his Administration and it's policies. More to the point, Carol Gelsey has had about six months of high-profile, on the job training, and unlike Mark Sellner, she has a unified caucus behind her. Noah Gellman, the leader of the Blue Dogs, will receive a high-ranking position, meaning Gelsey has her right-flank and center sufficiently mollified, and Mark Richardson will bring the left around. More than that, Gelsey seems like a much better strategist/tactician, communicator and overall better leader than Mark Sellner, and has the twisted benefit of losing the White House, making her the overall leader of the Democrats in Washington. This means it's unlikely that there's anybody who will challenge her for the leadership of the party, or try to cut a deal around her.
-Robert Royce, however, has a mixed bag to deal with. He apparently has gained a pair of Senate seats, giving him a stronger majority. But with that comes the fact that he was shown as vulnerable in his election, meaning there could be another, more conservative candidate, like Seth Randall of Florida, who could challenge him for his leadership position. On the plus side, Republican control of the Senate means that President Walken will be able to push through his nominees, especially judges and, in the event an opening occurs, a Supreme Court Justice, with near-impunity.
-Jim Marino had maybe the best speech of the night. His concession was....interesting, to say the least! Marino basically bashed the media and the whole political process. Honestly, I never thought he had it in him to be that passionate. Makes me wish more people had voted for the guy now.
-Democrats got a mixed bag in the Governor's races. Strangely, they gained out West, a surprising occurrence, picking up the State Houses in Nevada and Montana, while holding onto California (By a huge margin) and Oregon. In probably one of the bigger shocks of the election cycle, Mike Lawson managed to win reelection in Arizona, which would have seemed like a pipe dream a year ago. Democrats also held onto the State Houses of Massachusetts (Obviously), Rhode Island and New York, though Matthew Lewis had a closer contest than he would prefer.
However, Republicans made major gains across the nation as well. They picked up Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, Colorado and Michigan, and after a long recount, Connecticut. They also held onto the Governorships of North Carolina and Ohio, though Simon Halley and Andrew Wu are probably still sweating at how close it could have been. So it's an uneven tie.
-The return of Rudi Vansen to power is shocking. Once, it looked like he would be indicted, and after he fled the country, his guilt was assured-After all, innocent men don't run, right? And they especially don't resign their offices. But Vansen was cleared of all charges, and announced that he would run for his old office-But as an Independent. Though the race was close to the very end, Vansen appeared to be cleared when the lead federal prosecutor, John Saffold, was arrested for tampering with a federal investigation, fraud, obstruction of justice and several other crimes, and Vansen was completely exonerated. Now an Independent Governor, Vansen will have to deal with a completely Democratic legislature, but will presumably retain much of his Republican character. It's unknown of what the future holds for the once and again Governor.
-Democrats got a bounce into the State Legislatures across the nation. They picked up the State House of Representatives in New Mexico and Louisiana, as well as the Senate in Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Republicans are not without options, however.
-The Youth in Revolt did make it's presence known last night, electing Sam Seaborn and Andrew Howard to the Senate in California and Washington, as well as getting Alexis Larroquette a House seat in Vermont. Youth turnout, or voters 18-25, was at it's highest amount since 1960, and can be attributed to the general surge of support enjoyed by Democrats nationally. However, the strength and longevity of the movement is still in question, as is it's staying power on the national stage.
-A couple of interesting ballot notes-California passed Proposition 19 last night, allowing marijuana to be legal in homes and businesses established for those purposes, as well as taxing it. Opponents have immediately attacked the law, and are intending to continue to crusade against the law. The possession of marijuana is still illegal under the Federal Substances Act, but it is unknown how the new Walken Administration will deal with this issue.
Well, that's a very brief overview, but it is what I've got for the moment. I'm going to bed for real, and will be back with more coverage later on. Thanks for reading me over the past few months!
