Well, it seems (happily) that Bachmannalia was a little off in its predictions. The Democrats, as expected, won control of the House. It seems that they will have about a 28-29 seat majority, slightly higher than our team of pundits prognosticated. The House will soon be led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be elected Speaker.
As of this writer’s press deadline the Senate was still undecided. Four seats have definitely gone to the Democrats, the most notable being State Auditor McCaskill’s unseating of Sen. Jim Talent. In two other races the results are very narrow, but the Democrats lead in both – Jim Webb over George Allen in Virginia and Jon Tester over Conrad Burns in Montana. A recount will take place in Virginia, but Webb has already declared victory (someone learned a lesson from the 2000 election).

Bachmannalia is confident that both chambers will go to the Democrats. CNN won’t call it. Papers won’t call it. But we will.

This election has raised some interesting issues. One of the most significant is the shift in the makeup of the Democratic Party. They unseated several moderate Republicans, often with very conservative Democratic candidates. As one pundit put it, Webb could become the most conservative member of the Senate in many respects! The Democrats will have to learn to work together to find issues that social conservative Dems and progressive Dems can unite on.

There are plenty, though. Health care. Minimum wage. Energy reform. Ending tax cuts on the rich. Balancing spending.

It is going to be very, very interesting.

Oh, and don’t forget – the race for President in 2008 just began.