I apologize if folks have already discussed this.
There is a lot of question about how many seats Democrats will pick up on Tuesday. Dems could gain anywhere from 2 to 8 Senate Seats, and 15-50 House seats. But there is little doubt that Democrats will pickup a bunch of seats, make a bunch more closer than they should be, and win a bunch of Governerships.
There has also been some smart discussion about the expectations game. Democrats trying to play down our chances, while Rethuglicans try to play up our chances. The better things look before the election for Dems, the less stunning the stunning victory appears (since it will be stunning whether the media acknowledges it or not).
Losing a lot of close races could appear, in the minds of the spinners, as a defeat. But there is a way in which to correct that misconception.
The Popular Vote is one measure that I believe that Democrats will win in a landslide. We may lose some close races due to gerrymandering, but if Democrats can declare a sweeping
Popular Vote victory and get that message out to the press while things are unfolding, the message of change can be made evident regardless of the number of seats one.
Of course, to achieve this successfully, the popular vote needs to be tallied and reported as numbers come down. This can be done using primarily House races (since every American has one), but could also affect Senate and Governors races. If the Democrats win 20 seats, some may try to spin it as a failure. But if Dems get 5 million more votes than Rethugs, then it can be spun as a referendum on Bush.
This diary is just thinking out loud. I'm really just trying to think ahead to what means we have to measure just how good Dems did, despite gerrymandering, in this election and impact the post-election political debate. The post-election discussion could impact how successful Democrats are with the seats and governorships that they do gain.