A Look Back

Obviously, the midterm elections on Tuesday were a huge success for progressives and the Democratic Party. Here are some highlights:

• Democrats picked up 29 Congressional seats, and the majority in the House, with 9 races still in recount mode.
• Democrats won 6 seats, and the majority, in the Senate. Democrats now obviously control both houses of Congress, and with that the ability to set the legislative agenda for at least the next 2 years.
• Progressive candidates won across the country yesterday, and with their victories came some historic firsts for the U.S. government. Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. For the first time, three African-Americans — Charlie Rangel (NY), John Conyers (MI), and Bennie Thompson (MS) — will serve simultaneously as House committee chairmen. With Claire McCaskill’s Senate victory in Missouri, a record number of women (15) will now serve in the U.S. Senate. Governor-elect Deval Patrick (MA) became the first black governor elected in Massachussetts and the second African-American to ever be elected governor in the nation.
• Voters in six states - Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and Ohio - approved proposals that raise their state's minimum wage and tie it to changes in inflation.
• In other ballot measures across the country, voters defended abortion rights in South Dakota, endorsed stem cell research in Missouri, and, in a national first, rejected a same-sex marriage ban in Arizona.
• Voters in Rhode Island passed a constitutional amendment that restores voting rights to people who have been convicted of a felony, and who are now out of prison, but still on probation or parole.
• Finally, Jon Stewart and Howard Dean celebrate on The Daily Show.

In the coming days, we'll be discussing, among other things, those yet-to-be-decided races, the media's reaction to the Democratic thumpin', and the opportunities ahead for progressives, the Democratic Party, and the country itself.