The Daily Background

Okay totally hypothetical situation here. Isn’t actually happening or anything. Yeah.
Let’s say you’re the FEC. The Federal Election Commission, the body that is in charge of regulating elections. Let’s say that some really dirty, nasty stuff happened to Democrats during the 2004 election cycle, including some really disgusting ads against the Democratic nominee for […]

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Congratulations to Representative-elect Ciro Rodriguez, who won his run-off tonight over Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla. The margin was something like 55-45 (final results not in yet), which is a significant difference from the original pre-runoff results of less than 50% each. Ciro, a former House Rep, had tried to run in several districts in southern […]

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We already knew the new Senate Committee Chairs, but here are the House ones. Anybody from your state?
Agriculture, Collin Peterson (D-MN)
Appropriations, David Obey (D-WI)
Armed Services, Ike Skelton (D-MO)
Budget, John Spratt (D-SC)
Education & the Workforce, George Miller (D-CA)
Energy & Commerce, John Dingell (D-MI)
Financial Services, Barney Frank (D-MA)
Government Reform, Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Homeland Security, Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Intelligence, Silvestre […]

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From Rasmussen, a well-respected Republican pollster often suspected of slightly over-polling conservatives:

As Election Day dawned, just 15% of Americans rated the performance of the GOP Congress as good or excellent. For the GOP faithful, it probably seemed as if it couldn’t get any worse. But, now, as the Republican Congress is fading into history, their […]

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Today’s Washington Post has a front page article suggesting that many lobbyists are scared that Democrats will take over Congress in January. Instead, environmental lobbyists and other types of special interest groups like labor etc are getting more face time with Congressmen than ever before.
Labor and environmental representatives, once also-rans in congressional influence, are meeting […]

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Related: GOP leaving spending bills to Democrats

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On soon-to-be-former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s future, emphasis mine:

Defying expectations that he would immediately retire if the Republicans lost their majority, Mr. Hastert is preparing to remain in the House for at least the early months of the 110th Congress while he helps orchestrate a line of succession at home in Illinois and seeks to […]

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“If the Democrats take over the House and Senate, it’s going to be unbelievable after 2006.”
- National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, before the midterm elections, quoted by Bob Woodward in State of Denial.

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Hahahaha I love the internet. Today, DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer stopped by Daily Kos to thank everybody in the online community for working together to successfully take back the Senate this year. He stuck around to talk with people in the comments section of his thank you post to address questions and comments. Below is […]

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“A Liberal’s Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives” by Michael Moore.
—
To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,
I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week’s election. You’re worried that the country is heading toward a very bad place you don’t want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has ended with so much yet […]

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Smart bloggers and blog readers know that…
… Just because something was the case yesterday doesn’t mean that it’s still the case today.
For example, the fact that the House leadership “battle” (Steny Hoyer vs John Murtha for Majority Leader) wasn’t that interesting or important yesterday, it doesn’t mean that it’s still not that interesting or important.
It […]

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Grover Norquist, Abramoff-associated conservative mega-lobbyist says:

Although some glitz has come off Mr Rove, Republicans have been more eager to blame botched campaigns and individual ethics scandals. “Bob Sherwood’s seat [in Pennsylvania] would have been overwhelmingly ours, if his mistress hadn’t whined about being throttled,” said Mr Norquist. Any lessons from the campaign? “Yes. The lesson […]

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President Bush, this week:

We saw that freedom earlier this week, when millions of Americans went to the polls to cast their votes for a new Congress. Whatever your opinion of the outcome, all Americans can take pride in the example our democracy sets for the world by holding elections even in a time of war.”
You […]

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After the midterm elections, we can say goodbye to Republican Senator Conrad Burns. Not only was he awful at representing his constituents, he had a nasty habit of falling asleep at the worst of times (such as at farm appropriations hearings– extremely important to his state Montana specifically, or while waiting for results on Tuesday […]

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Earlier today: Rove then. Here is Rove now:

“The profile of corruption in the exit polls was bigger than I’d expected,” Rove tells TIME. “Abramoff, lobbying, Foley and Haggard [the disgraced evangelical leader] added to the general distaste that people have for all things Washington, and it just reached critical mass.”
[…]
And he does not believe his […]

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