Election day note to WesPAC - big winners; John Edwards, Wes Clark, Carol Shea-Porter, Jim Webb, Mudcat Democrats - 11/08/06

When I went to bed last night I was satisfied that the Democrats would take the House but that was all I saw. What I really wanted was for Jim Webb to take the Virginia Senate seat and he was behind 50% to 49%. Now it appears that he has won. That is a victory for all of us. A few early-morning scribbled and misspelled thoughts on perspective: Late last night one of the venerable at CBS was asked who he thought the big losers were in this election and he said he thought Senator Kerry's chances for 08 were weakened by his unfortunate comments a few days ago. Dionne of the WaPost commented on Sen. Clinton saying she was actually boring and a poor substitute Elvis One - my point is that since 04 the field of potentials has narrowed - Howard Dean is out, Warner is out, Kerry is possibly out, Senator Clinton is iffy and a new force has come into the Democratic Party. Same venerable said the important issue now is the rise of moderate Democrats. That would shift emphasis and Congressional support to John Edwards and General Clark. The front page of the WaPost this morning features a picture of Jim Webb, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner - this is a remarkable day; the birth of the Mudcat Democrats. Carol Shea-Porter's nice victory in New Hampshire shows that the Mudcat Paradigm in not only local to the South.