…not all that much, really. There’s lots of talk about how many of the elected Democrats are of a curiously conservative variety. Paul Morrison, our new Attorney General, was a Republican that switched party affiliations so that he could run against Phill Kline (blast that superfluous ‘l’, and may I never have to see it again), in a case of ‘tolerably conservative guy’ against a ’so conservative, he shits Bibles and bullets earmarked for abortion clinics’ guy. Bob Casey, who trounced Santorum (:D), has proclaimed himself as pro-life and pro-gun rights. On the flip side, Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Republican who has apparently challenged Bush’s policies, has progressive stances on things like gay marriage and stem cell research, and was the only Republican who voted against the Iraqi invasion, was defeated. People are still voting on party lines, it’s just that the Republican party happens to be out of favor. Also, Democrats have revamped themselves to be friendly and non-threatening to moderates and disenchanted conservatives. A new party ought to be formed: the Republicrats, or the Demoblicans. Their mascot could be a purple, long-nosed, enormous ass.

Still, perhaps because the political situation has become very dire in the past four years, I cannot help but be happy. It finally hit me just how bad things were when, while reading about the Foley case, I came across an article that discussed the possibility of Hastert stepping down as Speaker of the House for his involvement in the scandal. I can’t find it now, but the author said the likelihood was dim, as the Republican party could not find a single congressman who could replace Hastert, who had not been tainted by the Abramoff, DeLay, Foley, or other serious scandals. As a country, we desperately needed to clean House (ha!).

It looks like the Democrats need to do two things: 1) not be absurdly corrupt assholes, and 2) come up with a cohesive exit strategy for Iraq. Honestly, right now, just plain up and leaving sounds better than what we have been doing, with the insurgency intensifying every day and our military presence seemingly unable to do much about it. Hopefully, these election results will put more pressure on the administration to reevaluate our Iraq policy and come up with a more effective strategy. I’m not holding my breath, sure, but neither am I wringing my hands in despair.

-P.S. - …And Rumsfeld’s out