7 Days To Go

October 31, 2006

It’s Halloween! Is the trick on the Democrats? As we end the month of October, one can’t help but remember the beginning of October. Mark Foley was the big news and everyone was predicting a sweep for teh Democrats in the House (25-40 seat win) and a win in the Senate! Ahh, but that was 30 days ago wasn’t it.

Now, the optimisim has been swept aside and apprehension fills the air. The mantra is maybe the Democrats will take the Senate and probably they will take the House by 15-20 seats: barely a margin. They need to win 15 to have a one vote edge.

A month ago, oundits predicted that the Republicans will be swept from power on Capitol Hill on November 7 by an elemental force of voter anger aimed at President Bush and Congress. Some are forecasting a “Democrat tsunami”, while Charlie Cook, the pre-eminent American election guru, talks of a “Category 5 hurricane”.

This story, tells the story. At the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters, Karin Johanson, the executive director, has taken up smoking again, but with only eight days to go before polling day she says that there is scant time for indulging the habit.

And then the question is, when will we know who wins? It certainly won’t be November 7th, or November 8th. With so many races so clsoe, with 30 states now making absentee voting possible, just how many weeks will it take before we know who controls Congress? And fully, it’s estimated that 25% of the total ballots cast will be absentee.

Did I mention how easy it is to commit fraud on absentee ballots?