2008 Woodie Awards
Congress might face Dem majority
Josh Brown
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: OPINION
After Republican Sen. Ted Stevens' loss Tuesday against Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, D, Democrats are two seats away from a filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate.
Although Stevens is understandably popular there - he served Alaska in the Senate for 40 years, after all - one still has to wonder how they could come so close to re-electing a recently convicted felon.
He was convicted last month of seven felonious offenses after accepting money from a major Alaskan oil company.
Two states, Georgia and Minnesota, have yet to declare a winner in the senatorial elections.
In Georgia, incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss faced Democratic candidate Jim Martin and Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley.
Since Georgia law stipulates that a 50 percent majority of votes is necessary to claim victory, a runoff election will be held Dec. 2 between Chambliss and Martin.
Since this runoff's ballot will include just the top two vote-earners, third party and independent voters have a chance to make a huge difference.
In Minnesota, incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was challenged by Democratic candidate Al Franken (yes, the comedian) and Independent Party candidate Dean Barkley.
A recount began yesterday, as Franken and Coleman had less than a 0.5 percent difference in votes. In fact, Franken received only 215 votes less than the incumbent. This hand-counted tallying of almost 3 million ballots is expected to last well into December.
If both of these elections result in a victory for the Democratic Party, Democrats will have an unprecedented amount of control over the U.S. government.
With less than 41 seats, Republican senators would be unable to effectively filibuster liberal legislation, as Democrats could invoke cloture to put a stop to it. Democrats could simply push legislation straight through the Senate to President-elect Barack Obama's desk for approval.
With a Democrat in the White House and a clear Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, 60 seats in the Senate would put all the clout on one side of the aisle.
All the failing of the Bush administration would rest squarely in the hands of a liberal supermajority.
We could look forward to nationalized health care, higher taxes and the end of Guantanamo Bay at the very least.
They'll most likely do their best to throw laissez-faire economics out the window. Environmentalists will have a louder voice in Washington.
The troops will come home. If the Democratic Party wins a supermajority, they'll have as strong a hold on our government than they did during Jimmy Carter's presidency.
For better or worse, change is on its way.
Josh Brown is a journalism freshman. He can be reached at jpbrown4@gmail.com.
Although Stevens is understandably popular there - he served Alaska in the Senate for 40 years, after all - one still has to wonder how they could come so close to re-electing a recently convicted felon.
He was convicted last month of seven felonious offenses after accepting money from a major Alaskan oil company.
Two states, Georgia and Minnesota, have yet to declare a winner in the senatorial elections.
In Georgia, incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss faced Democratic candidate Jim Martin and Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley.
Since Georgia law stipulates that a 50 percent majority of votes is necessary to claim victory, a runoff election will be held Dec. 2 between Chambliss and Martin.
Since this runoff's ballot will include just the top two vote-earners, third party and independent voters have a chance to make a huge difference.
In Minnesota, incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was challenged by Democratic candidate Al Franken (yes, the comedian) and Independent Party candidate Dean Barkley.
A recount began yesterday, as Franken and Coleman had less than a 0.5 percent difference in votes. In fact, Franken received only 215 votes less than the incumbent. This hand-counted tallying of almost 3 million ballots is expected to last well into December.
If both of these elections result in a victory for the Democratic Party, Democrats will have an unprecedented amount of control over the U.S. government.
With less than 41 seats, Republican senators would be unable to effectively filibuster liberal legislation, as Democrats could invoke cloture to put a stop to it. Democrats could simply push legislation straight through the Senate to President-elect Barack Obama's desk for approval.
With a Democrat in the White House and a clear Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, 60 seats in the Senate would put all the clout on one side of the aisle.
All the failing of the Bush administration would rest squarely in the hands of a liberal supermajority.
We could look forward to nationalized health care, higher taxes and the end of Guantanamo Bay at the very least.
They'll most likely do their best to throw laissez-faire economics out the window. Environmentalists will have a louder voice in Washington.
The troops will come home. If the Democratic Party wins a supermajority, they'll have as strong a hold on our government than they did during Jimmy Carter's presidency.
For better or worse, change is on its way.
Josh Brown is a journalism freshman. He can be reached at jpbrown4@gmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Josh Brown
posted 11/20/08 @ 1:09 PM CST
Sorry about the headline. The Democrats already have a majority in Congress, but these two extra seats could give them something much more significant. (Continued…)
Adam
posted 11/20/08 @ 3:02 PM CST
It's important to remember that just because there are 60 members of a certain caucus doesn't necessarily mean there will be 60 votes for cloture on any given bill. (Continued…)
Havok
posted 11/21/08 @ 3:53 PM CST
It's unfortunate they don't let you write your own headlines. In the past couple years I've seen several inaccurate or just plain awful headlines...
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