Reply #6: Seems a lot depends on the next 20 months or so, doesn't it?

[HereSince1628]

The first test you are looking for will be the off-year elections in 2010. If the Congress has been a part of moving the economy forward there is a good chance the D's will hold their gains.

The problem, of course, is that the economic mess hasn't even reached the bottom. Even if Obama goes big and pushess major government spending thru congress to create jobs--it will take at least a year to begin to show results. Whether or not the economic turn around makes its debut before the mid-term elections is pretty hard to predict at this point.