Entries for November 08, 2006

Apocryphal story: the late Morris Udall, standing up at the podium on election night after finishing second in the fifth presidential primary in a row.

"The people have spoken," he said solemnly. "The bastards."

I have just returned to my hotel room after spending 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the decision desk room at Fox News Channel headquarters in New York. Because I was spending much of my time analyzing the tabulated vote as it was coming in for the obviously crucial House and Senate elections, I do not know for sure all the results–and so I may be getting some things wrong in this post. Also, I don't know yet the final percentages in many of the races. What I do know is that the Democrats have won control of the House, and seem to be on their way to about 230 seats–the number, as it happens, that Republicans ended up with after the election of 1994. That was a 52-seat gain for the Republicans; 230 seats would be a 27-seat gain for the Democrats. Impressive, and higher than I expected: Aside from the significant exception of 1994, neither party had made a net gain of more than 10 seats in the last 20 years. Also, it appears that the Democrats are on their way toward–if not absolutely assured of–a 51-49 majority in the Senate.