Well, if you are breathing at all you know that the United States, as we know it, is changed…big time. The American people have spoken at the polls with a resounding voice, and have, overnight, reversed the balance of power in America. Now, it remains to be seen if the Democratic members of this “do nothing” Congress will do a better job. My thinking is that they had better, because two years from now American’s will speak to their efforts, or lack there of, and, who knows, the face of the nation may change again.

The slogan, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore,” resonated from coast to coast, and though both parties had record turn outs, the Republican machine wheezed to a halt in all but a few diehard “red” states.

No sooner are the votes in, then the shocker of the year happens, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield resigns a day late and millions of dollars short.

Would it have made a difference in this 2006 election if this had happened a week ago? No one will ever know, but it is a good bet it wouldn’t have hurt Republican chances.

President George W. Bush commented that he did not make an announcement of Rumsfield’s resignation earlier because he did not want news of the resignation to be political…like what else would you call it.

Some would speculate that by delaying the announcement, Republican candidates across the nation suffered at the polls by association, costing many their jobs. Let’s face it, some of the losers probable didn’t need to go, some had served their constituents well, but lost by virtue of their connections.

And what of Connecticut Senator Joe Liberman, the Democratic Party made him persona non grata. Did Senator Liberman slink off into the night? No, filled with the old American “can do” spirit he took on both parties as an Independent, and thanks to appreciative Connecticut voters both Democrat and Republican he will hold sway for another four years at his Washington office. He says he’ll caucus with the Democrats, but I’d be willing to bet his vote won’t come easy. There is, after all, a price to be paid for ignorance.

In Florida, where the Republicans held sway almost across the board, a key Senate seat was lost because Florida’s Republican Party could find no better candidate than Katherine Harris to represent them. She was so loathed by Floridians that the Democratic candidate Bill Nelson won by more than 60 per cent. That’s a lot of Republican votes going to the opposition, and a seat in the Senate as well.

Now that the 2006 elections are in the history books, can it be long before the political pundits will be giving us their “educated” opinion on the all-important 2008 Presidential Elections, which, thanks to the 2006 Democratic route, should provide some very interesting possibilities.

How’s this for upsetting the New York apple cart. According to current polls, the 2008 presidential front runner for the Democrats is Senator Hillary Clinton or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, depending on the day and circumstance. Enter the first woman Speaker of the House, California Senator Nancy Pelosi. Is that hissing and clawing I hear on the back fence? Could we be looking at a cross-country cat fight for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination? Another interesting possibility, right?

And what of the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee, well I say scrap ex-Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain, and soon to be, ex-Governor of Florida Jeb Bush (too bad he’s related to the less than popular current president, 60 plus per cent of Floridians still think he was a great governor), I say here’s the 2008 Republican Presidential ticket, tah dum, for president, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and as her vice-presidential running mate, Florida Governor elect Charles Crist. Don’t laugh political news junkies, and Republicans take note, mine is a sure bet.

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