Politics { My thoughts

I feel I can relax a little today. Democrats should take a taste of the sweet nectar of victory, and then get over it. Their work is just beginning and I can tell you the deck is stacked against them. They have to fight the grid-lock and make all the tough decisions that the GOP has refused to make the last six years and it will make them unpopular. But for the health and stability of this country those decisions must be made. The abuses of the executive branch must be investigated. The ineptness of the handling of Iraq must be investigated. The rampant corruption that has taken Washington must be investigated. The erosion of our civil liberties must be addressed.

Closer to home, the democrats swept Rochester, Walz for US House, Ann Lynch for State Sentae, Tina Liebling for State House, all this pleases me. Klobuchar for Senate, 58-39, not a small margin. I was happy to see Kiffmeyer removed form Secretary of State. I was happy to see Keith Ellison elected, a first for Minnesota. Hatch lost, but as I've said before here, I didn't think he was right for Governor, I would have taken him over Pawlenty, but I still think the DFL made a mistake, and I am now very sorry I compromised my conscious for him. It was a hard and tough decision for me. Bachman, was elected, so not all is great. I still feel she is a bit too much of a evangelical religious zealot for my taste and I think she can actually be worse than Kennedy was for MN. But she is up for re-election in 2008 along with everyone else, so we will see. With the GOP power reduced in the House, we indeed live in interesting times.

A theme that has emerged, and it is nothing new, is that Americans are sick of the negative attack ads. Well duh, but they keep falling for them and believing them. If they didn't we wouldn't see them anymore. But the Roveian tactics of negativity, fear, and hatred is starting to lose its effect on people. People can only be so scared for so long. They can only hate for so long, before exhaustion sets in. This year was a turning point in ways. Even though the gay marriage and abortion issues we tapped, slapped and flogged and paraded around to 're-energize' the base, they took less precedence this year as they did in 2004. People were more worried about the corruption, the war, the economy. Things they should worry about.

A lot has to happen now. And while I still don't feel 100% comfortable with the state of things, for the first time in six years I was able to relax, even if just a little.