What If (Horrors!) The Dems Win Nov. 7th?

That’s the new talking point being used to rally voters against the Democrats. And even Frank Rich hopped on that bandwagon yesterday in his New York Times Op/Ed piece. What if the Democrats win the seats they need to control the Senate or the House or both? What will they do with the power? Frank Rich (who I adore and can forgive almost anything) even got in this dig: “Maybe the Democrats can blow 2006 as they did 2004, but not without Herculean effort. As George Will memorably wrote, if they can’t at least win back the House under these conditions ‘they should go into another line of work.’” In addition, Rich said, the New Direction of the Democrats, as promoted by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is full of “golden oldies—raising the minimum wage, enacting lobbying reform, cutting Medicare drug costs, etc. “--just the same-old-same-old, the pundits are saying and then they yawn. Those golden oldies sound just fine by me. And I suspect they sound fine to any Middle Class voter who feels the US of A is headed in the wrong direction. But Cokie Roberts on the George Stephanopoulos ABC This Week show yesterday introduced a new note of caution to the same-old-same-old complaint about the Dems and what they will do with power. Roberts said that it would be bad for the Dems to win the November 7th elections because that would give voters two years to see how the Dems would handle their control of Congress. Which, she opined would inevitably lead to a huge defeat in November 2008. In a nutshell, Roberts’ view is that the voters in America (Republicans and Democrats alike) will be so upset by the Democrats bringing the war in Iraq to a close, and by the Dems starting to right the wrongs that Republican fascist rule has visited on the United States (and the world), that voters will turn against the Dems and vote for John McCain and his neocon pals. Which argument is about as cogent and intelligent as President George W. Bush himself was during George Steph’s interview with our National Embarrassment yesterday. If Bush weren’t president of the United States, weren’t such a grandiose narcissistic sociopath idiot and asshole, one could almost feel sorry for him. He hasn’t read any of Bob Woodward’s books about him, he said. He wouldn’t feel right reading books about himself, he said. “You don't think there's anything to be learned from these books in real time?” George Steph asked. No! The president answered quickly and succinctly. George W. Bush says the Economy is on an upswing, “I've always found the economy to be an issue. And if it's good, you do OK, and if it's not good, you don't do OK in American politics.” George W. Bush hasn’t thought about what life will be like if the Dems win. “If I have to, I'll think about it later on. But I'm a person that believes we'll continue to control the House and the Senate.” George Steph said that James Baker is looking for a policy between cut-and-run and stay-the-course. George W. Bush said, “We've never been stay the course, George. We have been -- we will complete the mission, we will do our job and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting the tactics, constantly.” And George W. Bush says there is no civil war in Iraq, but the situation in Iraq is “dangerous”. With regard to North Korea, George W. Bush said the decision to have nuclear devices is Kim Jong-Il's decision to make. “We've made our decision,” Bush said. “Tell us how you made the decision,” George Steph asked the President of the United States. “I don't know,” the President said. “And I — you know, I just don't know. “ Two more years of that. If the Dems don’t prevail on November 7th, then the entire United States truly deserves the consequences.