This is great news for this country. Nancy Pelosi is going to use her new power to spend the next two years in an intensive investigation of the Bush Administration's abuses of power both in terms of the Iraq war and overextension of executive privilege in the war on terror. Impeachment proceedings might well be in order, and the GOP can't complain, since they were the ones who impeached Clinton over FAR less serious matters.

But more importantly, the message has been sent to Bush: "End this war in Iraq or in two years the american public is going to end it for you!" This war has already sunk the republican party's power in congress, and it will sink the gop's power in the white house. Unless they wise up and end it. The american public, even evangelicals and conservatives, are tired of our soldiers coming home in body bags, giving their lives to fight another country's civil war.

Finally, after January I guess New Democratic Majority can change its name. I mean the New Democratic Majority is here and it won't be new after that I say NDM next year should drop the "New" from its name and become CDM-- CITIZENS OF THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY!

Agree on the necesssity of oversight and investigation, but if we spend the next two years on a partisan jihad, we're no better than them. We have a real chance to forge a broad new majority, but the way to do that is to pass legislation and present a real alternative to the other side. In short, again, I'm more interested in expanding our new majority than in payback.

Its not just payback though. George W. Bush has made a mockery of the separation of powers that are supposed to be Constitutionally protected. If the House doesn't investigate these abuses and have extensive hearings, it will only encourage further abuses in the future. So its not just payback.

Bear in mind too that Bush is going to veto almost any legislation the Congress passes, and the Democrats don't have near the votes to override anything. So like it or not, except maybe for something like immigration reform, there is going to be two years of gridlock. Which makes it all the more important for Pelosi and co. to use these two years to spell out the abuses of the Bush administration. Coalition building can come later, we need to finish this battle first, and that comes in two years by taking back the White House. We must have a single minded focus on that goal. Spending two years coalition building and making Bush look like a moderate will not accomplish that goal.

Steve Harrison got 2 more percentage points against Vito Fossella than Frank Barbaro in 2004, but given the anti-Republican sentiment that swept the country this year, it's hard to argue that Harrison did better than Barbaro and that he's the natural choice to run again in 2008. The fact is, Harrison was the Democratic nominee because the Dems could not find anyone else to run. I seem to recall Harrison running for City Council in his home neighborhood (in Brooklyn) and finishing last in a five-way race. That would suggest there might be stronger Democratic candidates out there.

Also, it's too early to say definitively that the Dems lost no seats they were defending. Georgia-12 is still undecided.