After a lot of contributing, a little volunteering, and a long, long night of actually leaving DailyKos alone (!), this tired Minnesota Democrat is ready to comment on what happened here.
I'm sure this little missive will be lost in the weighty tide of election diaries, but what the heck.
Joy tempered with disappointment. That's the state of play in Minnesota today.
Let's get the disappointments out of the way. First, my personal disappointments. I live in Minnesota's 3rd CD. This is Republican suburbia and exurbia. The longtime incumbent, Jim Ramstad, won reelection for the 207th time (or does it just seem that way?). As for the state house, I live in 32A. My DFL candidates, Grace Baltich (for the State House) and John Olson (for the State Senate) went down to defeat. Not unexpected, but still disappointing. Mike Hatch, the DFL candidate for Governor, narrowly lost the election. Another Pawlenty term is going to be bad news. But the good news is that, overall, the DFL did well in state legislative races. The DFL controlled the Senate and the Republicans controlled the House prior to this election. The DFL captured both state houses. That will limit the damage of another Pawlenty administration.
The Independence Party candidate captured 7% of the vote. I have to wonder how things would have happened if that had not been the case.
The other disappointments for me were 2nd CD where Coleen Rowley was defeated. The Republican incumbent returns to the house. Rowley was a good candidate and her loss is disappointing, but not necessarily unexpected.
The 6th was a big disappointment. Not because a DFL win was likely. It never was. This is the most "values voter" district in the state. Very pro-life. But this was the seat held by Mark Kennedy who, while a Bush rubber stamp, was at least not a fundamentalist nutjob who believes prayer can "cure" "gayness." Michele Bachman is going to make Rick Santorum look reasonable. I'm ashamed mf my state for her election, and I personally apologize to the nation. I don't live in her district, but I still feel shame.
That's the bad news.
Now the good news.
First, of course, the election of Amy Klobuchar. Mark Kennedy had been one of the Republican's "sure thing" pickups. He got stomped. And I hope this was a career-ending stomp.
Second, the fact the DFL picked up a US house seat without losing any. Tim Walz, a "Fighting Dem," one of the "netroots" candidates, defeated the long time incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht in a fairly "red" district. Excellent news!
Third, the DFL takeover of the state house. As I said above, this will help mitigate the narrow Pawlenty win.
Fourth, while everyone expects a DFL candidate to win in the 5th CD, the news here is that the winner, Kieth Ellison, is black and a Muslim, the first Muslim elected to the US Congress. I'm quite proud of my state for this one.
The rest of my joy comes from the national success of the party. Obviously our majority in the house pleases me beyond words. Accountability for the dangerously out of control Bush administration will begin now.
As I write this, Tester has declared victory. And I expect that to stick. That leaves only the Virginia race to determine the outcome in the Senate. I certainly did not expect our party to take over the Senate. I thought it would be close, but that we would be 2 seats shy of the number. Even if we do not win Virginia (which I expect we will), at least Cheney will have to sit in the Senate a lot more, reducing his ability to make stupid fear-mongering statements, shoot hunting buddies, and operate his Bush-puppet. Even that would have to be considered a victory.
Nancy Pelosi's promised first 100 hours will be a good start. I'm hopeful for my country again.
I want to thank Markos and everyone here at DailyKos. You all gave me hope when I despaired for my country. And I suspect many here feel the same. I'm so glad this community is here.
I WAS JUST ABOUT to file this diary when it was announced that Rumsfeld is stepping down! Joy increaseth in the morning!