What victory in the House will mean

[WilliamPitt]

...if we get it.

Not just a return of checks and balances.

Not just a return of the separation of powers.

Not just a thwarting of the rubber-stamp party that has been going on for far too long.

Not just subpoenas.

Not just the investigations that will come by way of subpoenas.

Not just the revelations that will come by way of subpoenas.

But the big one: how the investigations and revelations will affect the Presidential race in 2008.

If Conyers, Waxman and the other newly-minted chairman can put their shoulders to the wheel and blow the lid off what has been happening, it will DRAMATICALLY change the playing field in '08.

On the Republican side, any potential candidate who was ever nice to Bush in public will be fleeing for their lives.

On the Democratic side, the middle-of-the-roaders who can't seem to get out of their own way, the ones who hold progressive values at arm's length, the ones you know all too well, will be hard-pressed to justify their political existence...given that too many of them either actively midwifed these catastrophes along, or simply stood aside and let them happen.

So.

Maybe, just maybe, two years of truth-telling in the House will open the way for the kinds of Presidential candidates we want, the kind this country and this world needs.

No more Quixotic kamikaze runs for excellent candidates who are today considered too "out there."

Two years of truth-telling will have proven them right.

And then, we clean up this Godawful mess.

If we win tonight.

If.

[SteppingRazor]

1. If? Pitt, if we don't win the House tonight, I will eat my socks...

hell, I'll eat yours too. Just name the time and place.

I'm a little more iffy on the Senate, but the House is no longer a question of "if," but of "by how much"

[WilliamPitt]

2. I'm sticking with "If"

until I hear otherwise. ;)

Big money, no whammies.

[survivor999]

5. No taking wild risks, huh?

Good policy :)

[SteppingRazor]

8. Being the horse-race-obsessed political junkie I am...

I've been watching all the House races pretty carefully. Way I see it, at the very worst, we pick up 16 seats. I think about 21-25 is more likely, with 30-35 as a best case scenario (anyone who says 40+ is being a bit too optimistic, imo).

I'm not popping open the champagne yet either, but I'm fairly confident I will be by the end of the night.

[Dob Bole]

3. Historical: First female leader of a branch of government!

Everyone seems to be overlooking that one. But then again, I'm a historian and inclined to such thoughts.

[WilliamPitt]

4. First African American governor of Massachusetts

[twilight_sailing]

6. if

No more Quixotic kamikaze runs for excellent candidates who are today considered too "out there."
---------------------------------

I have been waiting for this very thing to happen all my life.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Republicans will drop Bush like a ton of bricks.

I think there's a remote possibility for impeachment even if we don't take back the Senate.

[Mr_Spock]

9. Got my fingers crossed!

I'm glad things are more controlled this year without the stupid early exit polls etc...

Let's see some results!

Then, let's get to the business of governing as you describe.