[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Tex

A few other interesting story lines out of this cycle:

- Marco Rubio. Can't understate the impact of that victory. Pundits and knotheads said it was foolish to take on Crist and that he'd never win. Now he is the new face of the Republican party.

- 680 new state legislators! I about fell off my chair when I saw that staggering number. Many future governors, congressmen, and senators come from state legislators. Our bench for the future just got very, very deep.

- R's now control 54 state houses, have unified control (both houses) of 26 states, and have the governorship too in 16 of those. Beyond redistricting, this is still huge. States are where new policies get experimented with before moving to the federal level. This is gonig to open up new possibilities for the implementation and proof of conservative policies.

- Jerry Brown. Seriously, California? Jerry Brown? You're economically hemorraging and you call in a 1970's retread? LOL, what is wrong with you people? No wonder people are fleeing. For the first time in the history of the state, you will get no new congressional seats during reapportionment. Good luck with that.

- Say goodbye to Russ Feingold. Maybe the best how-in-the-hell-did-we-let-that-happen moment of the night for Democrats.

- California Prop 20. Takes redistricting power away from the legislature and give it to a panel of citizens. Should be interesting to see the impact of that on future house races. In the wave of 60+ R's, only 1-2 came from CA's 53. That's some quality gerrymandering, folks.

- Poor Dino Rossi. 3 times a bridesmaid. I feel even more sorry for eastern Washington. They will forever be 2nd-class citizens to King County.

- 23 of 33 Senate seats next cycle are Democrats. 5 are in McCain '08 states. 6 more are in states that went heavily Republican in '10, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Depending on the R nominee, 2012 has the potential to be a very fun year.

- Other numbers:
28 of 51 Blue Dogs gone (retired or defeated)
28 of 37 Dem incumbents in McCain-'08-won districts, gone.
29 Democrat votes for cap-and-tax, gone
27 Democrat votes for Obamacare, gone
5 Democrat committee chairmen gone (3 defeated, 1 retired, 1 defeated in Dem primary), including at least 5 double-digit-term incumbents

Jerry Brown is the one I don't get. A 70's retread. As I understand it, Whitman was done in by the maid. She handled that horribly. It's bad to lose California to Brown. He was a nut and I am told his father wasn't much better.

California can burn and rot with its trio Boxer, Feinstein and Brown. Yuck. I understand Lt. Gov is a treat as well.

NY and Cal are twins from different mothers. They have a bunch of lousy Dems with nothing to offer, yet the Reps blow it every time as well.

So we get Pat Brown's son ruling California, again, while Mario's son rules NY. Astonishing. The voters like the familiar as opposed to the unfamiliar it would seem. Blue on the outside but red in the interior.