This topic has been touched on in another diary or comment, which my limited search skills can't find, but I thought it needed a bit of fleshing out, thus this diary.
While we are misdirected to the potential of the vaunted "October Surprise", I think the Republicans have a "December Surprise", post-election, to keep majorities in both Houses of Congress, forever. More after a word from our sponsor:
The Constitution (Article I, Sect. 5) authorizes each House of Congress to be the sole judge of its election returns. The Houses have taken this clause to mean that they can look behind the actual balloting to determine the intent of the voters, irrespective of the States' certification of election returns, and can overturn the actual results and seat the loser.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/...
While they mocked our concerns over fraud in the 2004 Presidential election, it looks like the GOPers - such as MD Governor Ehrlich, Fox News, etc. - are now publicly agreeing that the use of electronic voting machines, along with confusion caused by differing state voter ID requirements and other voting impediments, may cast doubt on the outcome of elections.
So: it's November 8, and all the election returns show the Dems taking 20 or so seats in the House and six in the Senate, to control both Houses. With numerous reports of long lines, closed polling places, confusion over state ID laws, allegations of ineligible voters casting ballots, etc., the GOP noise machine feeds the media with relentless complaints about how the Dems have stolen this and that election. In order to preserve the rights of Americans to cast unimpeded and effective ballots >clearing throat< the existing GOP majority reconvenes both Houses in December, and then proceed to delare that, despite the "questionable" returns in various races, they have concluded that, in enough of them for the GOP to keep each House, the voters' true intent was to vote for the Republican candidate, and that candidate is declared the winner and, come January, seated in Congress. The Republicans keep both Houses despite the actual election results.
Of course, the Republicans will spend what they need to spend, and do what they need to do, to keep as many seats as possible without resorting to that tactic, and that may work as to the Senate, where a Dem takeover is possible but, if I may, certainly uncertain. But if we take 15 or more seats, and thus a majority, in the Senate despite the Republicans' best efforts in the election, there is always this means of overturning those results. Indeed, if we here can think of this, the bad guys surely have thought of it already. Maybe that is why Rove et al. are so confident: it won't matter what the voters do.
If this "December Surprise" does happen, the Congress may be permanently in Republican hands. My naive faith in the goodness of people generally cautions me that even Republican Congresspersons have too much respect for this nation and its Constitution to do such a thing. I have difficulty, however, reconciling that faith with what we have all seen these past few years. The interests propping up these bums are far to strong to yield the phenomenal power control of the government provides to them; it will be interesting to see if they will acquiesce in surrendering it.
What do you think? Should I fashion a tinfoil hat for myself? Should we all start looking at available homes in Nova Scotia?