Do you regret the sense of euphoria you felt on Election Night 2006?

[journalist3072]

I remember the downright giddy and euphoric atmosphere here on DU on Election Night 2006, as it became apparent that the Democratic Party would regain control of the House (of course the Senate was more uncertain for a couple of days).

And then today, I listened as Randi Rhodes read the names of some of the Senators who voted FOR the FISA bill over the weekend: Claire McCaskill, Bob Casey, and Jim Webb among them. Of course, these 3 were elected to the Senate last November.

And so my question to you, in light of the abmissmal performance of this Democratic Congress thus far: do you regret the sense of euphoria you felt on Election Night 2006? Or do you still have high hopes for this Congress?

[Semper_FiFi]

1. No, I still have high hopes for congress.

Anything is better than having the criminal repubs in power. I think we need to be a little more patient with our people in congress.

[movonne]

7. have you read the article on the front page about the blue dog dems...

I am very disappointed in them and feel this country is screwed...the problem is we have no choices..

[Yurovsky]

35. You always have a choice...

you can accept the current situation or you can fight to rectify it. Whether it is money, time, effort, whatever you can provide, it is worth it to dismiss the traitors from the ranks of the Congressional majority.

The party needs further cleansing and greater discipline. Elected members should not be allowed to betray the party leadership as well as the rank and file. They must be held accountable, and pay for their treachery.

Do not take this lying down. Fight. If you don't, they who will?

[SammyWinstonJack]

45. Welcome to Du and

[Yurovsky]

52. Thanks ... cute dog (nm)

nm

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I'm not sorry but I wish it had lasted longer.

[Phredicles]

3. No, but I am very saddened when I think of what's happened since.

[MadMaddie]

4. I am dissapointed in these three....we need to make sure they

understand that we are not pleased.

I still retain hope but am pissed...

[Perky]

5. Hell No....not even close

[hisownpetard]

16. I don't regret the euphoria but I sure wish we had something to be euphoric about now.

I contributed to the campaigns of all three, and I'll be damned if I can understand
how the Dems voted to expand the spying powers, while Alberto Gonzales still
sits in his well-appointed office, grinning and drooling on his blotter.

For my money, I would have been thrilled beyond belief if the Dems said, "Know what?
Our democracy is truly in danger - and we're not leaving until we right some wrongs."
But what did they do? Instead of spending months dealing with the issues surrounding
FISA, they waited till the last week they were in session, pulled an all-nighter, made a
big stink about bringing in cots, and then caved in to Bush's demands, giving him
MORE power than he had before - so they didn't have to shorten their unearned
vacations.

It makes me apoplectic to think about it. With Democrats like these,
who needs Republicans?

[rwheeler31]

6. They have tried, they need a bigger army to fight these thugs.

[dflprincess]

8. Gene Hackman has a great line in "Class Action"

"I should have died the day Nixon resigned."

Somedays I feel like that.

[Snazzy]

38. Nice ha, ok renting that

Have another Hackman lined up too, the NSA action thing from '98

http://imdb.com/title/tt0120660 /

9 years + patriot act and various other circumventions, wonder if this techie still says no way.

[TahitiNut]

9. Hell ... all I was doing was waiting until peoples' high wore off.

It was senseless Polyannaism, imho. As I've said before and will (sadly) say again, it's gonna get a LOT worse before it gets better. You don't get rid dandelions in the grass roots by snipping off a few blooms ... and nobody is even snipping the blooms.

[RiffRandell]

10. Not one fucking bit. n/t

[quinnox]

11. no way

[sandnsea]

12. There's a big country to change

The elections were the thinnest of margins. It was barely a foot in the door. It was always going to take a massive grassroots strategy to effect the kind of change DU wants to see.

[havocmom]

13. Didn't feel euphoria. Knew is was just the beginning of a lot of hard work & slow progress

VERY hard work and very slow progress.

I am old enough to know it was NOT 'Happy Days Are Here Again'.

The right has taken DECADES to put things in place for all this shit goin down. We won't fix it real fast and with a TINY majority.

I still have hope

[Ryano42]

14. NO NEVER...

It was a start...this is sadly going to be excruciating and long.

I hold onto a chilling thought...what if they had held both houses in the last election? Iran would be glowing, the US would be much farther on the way to a much worse situation and I would have ZERO hope and an escape plan working.

Sadly, change takes time and I intend to tell my representatives that they did NOT do well...while they are at home they all need to hear our displeasure...in person if possible.

Remember...the Vietnam war was being protested and debated for years and years; in '68 all that violence, which I believe we may have to re-endure, bore the fruit of change only years later in '73 and finally out completely a year or so later.

NO MATTER what happens in Washington...WE ARE WAY AHEAD OF THEM...and need to keep reminding them that THEY work for US.

WE must lead THEM

[Wapsie B]

15. Not at all.

I'm just angered at the fact that this entire administration in DC may very well get away with all they have done and not have to answer for any of it. If the Democratic Party will not remove Cheney and the gang from power I see it as a clear indication that the political system in this country is nothing more than an elaborate con game with both parties in on it.
You want my vote candidates? Impeach and remove Cheney and the gang. Otherwise it's 3rd party time for me.

[AlCzervik]

17. hell no.

[Breeze54]

18. No, I don't regret the euphoria at all but even that

night, while we all waited ALL night for the Webb election results (remember?)
that we had hoped for a larger majority getting elected. We knew it would be
a hard road with the election results that made us the majority, by a feather.
I'm glad Santorum and Allen are gone and any other shitheads who's names I don't
recall at the moment. Am I angry at the FISA fiasco from the other night? You bet!
I think we still have a lot of cleaning to do in both houses, obviously! But that
was still a great night!! I want another one!! And this time I want even less
rethugs in both houses and less BD and DINO's! And I want a progressive President!

[beyurslf]

19. No.

Pelosi and Reid are better than whatever gasbags the r's put up there.

[eggman67]

20. I can't because

I wasn't euphoric. I don't hit emotional highs & lows about this stuff. That's not to say I wasn't happy at all, just not euphoric. Ok, well I will admit I was a bit more than happy as a Pennsylvanian to smoke Scrotorum out of office

Mainly though, I looked at the numbers and set my expectations accordingly. Which is probably why I'm not crushed now.

I really think that expectations got a bit overinflated that night, which is understandable, but it never came back down to a realistic level. It seems that some thought that the 231 seats in the House were all members of the progressive caucus and we'd just start steamrolling. I never expected that. I counted the 44 Blue Dogs and the 40+ DLC and only 70 Progressive. I understand the unpleasant realities of politics and the maddeningly slow turning wheels of government. I also understand that even with the divisions it's still better to be the majority than the minority. Finally, I recognized that nothing significant would get done due to the makeup of the Senate, so my expectations were that they'd get through what they could, and try to stauch the bleeding as much as possible and try to increase the majorities in 2008. I feel that Pelosi has met those expectations given what she has to work with.

[LittleClarkie]

21. Nah, I was under no delusions as to what would get accomplished

and I think we knew we'd gotten some blue dogs elected in some of those areas.

I'm motivated to try even harder in 2008 to strengthen the majority to put our Dems in a stronger position. We need a fillibuster proof majority in the Senate.

[AndyTiedye]

22. It Was Nice While It Lasted. We May Never Feel Anything Like It Again

[Maddy McCall]

23. No. I have no reason to regret it.

[MH1]

24. Not at all.

Do you think it would be BETTER with republicans in control of Congress??

[progressoid]

25. nope

[MasonJar]

26. NO, I still realize that the neocons and the evangelical hardliners

are the real evil doers. George Bush and Dick Cheney are so evil that their very wake breeds smoke and fire from the devil. I am sorry to be so blatant, but these men are callous beyond redemption. The dem need to learn again how to lead and stand tall; it is our job to teach them and demand from them a better course. Do NOT give up yet. The only alternative is unthinkable. The very world is at risk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NancyBreen]

27. No n/t

[treestar]

28. No, though I really don't understand right now why they don't

put the screws to Chimpy and the repukes the way the repukes did to the Dems when they were in power.

They shouldn't pass anything Chimpy wants, and then let Chimpy take the blame for the results. It makes no sense they did not hold out on the war funding and the FISA bill. It's as if they think there HAS to be a bill passed, so they pass the best compromise they can make with the Chimperor.

[mitchtv]

29. No

few steps foward, few back ..keep at it. Better than the alternative

[parasim]

30. I do kinda regret the feeling I had that the People really had the power...

I mean, I remember when the tears came to my eyes when I walked up to that voting both and discovered that I could still do this in my country and vote for who I wanted to be in there.

and thankfully, I lot of other people felt the same way and we won.

Now, however, the welling up of my eyes comes from the stark realization that I guess it doesn't really matter who we put up there. The results are still the same.

[BeHereNow]

31. No- I said then and I say now, "I'll wait and see..." Truth is in action , not words.

So far, the truth aint looking good and unfortunately, I am not surprised
given what I have learned about the global elite and their behind the scenes
machinations in our country and economy.

BHN

[lonestarnot]

32. I am sick to death of being lied to and then being expected to swallow

the bullshit.

[Oldenuff]

33. Yep

From the moment that Pelosi said that impeachment was off the table,I knew the "fix" was in.So far,our party has done nothing of substance to change my opinion.

I really wonder how many average american voters are saying, WTF is up with the Dems?

How does a person vote,when no choice is the only choice?

[Bumblebee]

34. No. It was real and we worked for it hard. Even though they voted

for it, I do not blame the rookie senators as much as I blame the leadership who could have stood fast. It was, I suspect, all orchestrated to look like they put up resistance while they did not even intend to, and I won't be surprised if some of these new senators -- add Klobuchar to the list too -- were chosen to vote for it and make sure there were filibuster-proof 60 votes precisely because they still have 6 years for the rage to come down -- or so the leadership thought.

[YvonneCa]

36. This is like turning an aircraft carrier...

...REALLY SLOW. Hardly feels like it's moving...but eventually you are headed in a new direction. We'll get there...just elect more Democrats to EVERY ELECTED POSITION.

[WillyT]

37. No, But It Went From A State Of Euphoria To The State Of Suckovia In Less Than 6 Months !!!

[Snazzy]

39. I keep having hope and regretting it

at some point that makes me a stupid fool. Starting in 2000....

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

40. Regrets, I've had a few.

MKJ

[KillCapitalism]

41. No, there have been some small victories we can thank the Dems for.

They did help pass a minimum wage increase for instance.

[blogslut]

42. No

I never regret joyous moments.

But I'm no fool. I've been on this road before, both in my personal life and in the life of the society that surrounds me.

Perfect moments are fleeting. All reality is flux. One election designates the driver but does not repair the vehicle. The engine of politics needs constant maintenance. Parts wear out and must be replaced. Sometimes the mechanic orders the wrong replacement part. Other times the engine just needs to run a while before all the gears realign. The Democratic party is the driver now and there's years of neglect and abuse to repair. The process is slow, repetitive and frustrating but I have faith we are moving forward.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. I'm not sorry at all. I can be patient. Plus I'm old, so I have a longer attention span.

It's important to let the bastids that did us wrong know that falling sensation they feel is because they just took their last long walk on a short pier, but the rest of them - they have a chance to redeem themselves yet.

[Hekate]

48. Nicely put. I feel the same way, & I have no regrets about that night, except maybe...

...except maybe the part where my happy dance took me out on the patio where I tripped in the dark and fell all over a heavy planter! Ow!

Hekate

[SammyWinstonJack]

44. No. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

46. Yes

and to those trying to justify these actions, can I get a hit of whatever you're smoking?

[Race4Peace]

47. we're having an off-year, like '05

I still feel great about that night. all the work had paid off, and we got that off our backs. that was the type of night you can compare to midnight at the end of a really shitty year. felt great, we had been climbing the elephant shitpile, and got to the top of it at last, pumping our fists in the air "HELL YEAH! WE MADE IT!"


remember that night, and the happiness it brought, and if you're feeling down about now, just remember, there are better days ahead.

[oustemnow]

49. You are offering a false choice here

First of all, I don't think the Democratis Congress' performance has been "abmissmal." Have they moved mountains? No. Have they made progress, with a slim majority and a minority party intent on acting like three-year-olds?

Secondly, I would think that a journalist would know how to spell "abysmal."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

50. I never was euphoric

Before the election, I was saying that I was afraid that the Dems would blow this opportunity and go into their usual routine of abject "bipartisanship.' After the results were in, I found it hard to be more than cautiously optimistic.

Now I'm no longer optimistic.

[scarletwoman]

54. Right on! I was never "euphoric", either. And barely even "cautiously optimistic". (nt)

[nolabels]

51. I still feel good about it, there is a big piece of puzzle missing for the GOP now

I never have high hopes for anything anymore. I don't know why everybody get so upset over what would seem to be not such a big loss as that FISA thing

Like the USA has been doing dastardly things for quite some time, and sure it might be kind of bad in ways, but it was also a good wake up call too.


If you have stuck around here at D.U. long enough you would know that more often than not that the cynics were more often correct. The overturned congress in 2006 was just a pleasant surprise the cynics were wrong about.

[Breeze54]

53. You lost your right to privacy the other night and I want

to read all your e-mails and listen to all your phone calls.

Is that okay with you?

[nolabels]

55. I guess i might be the exception to the rule

NOBODY calls me (who would want to talk to me anyway) and when i need to talk to someone i try to do it in person anytime possible(except when i post at D.U. of course). People often wonder what it up with that, but that is just how i am. I also hope they do read my e-mails just because i almost never do

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. I assumed they read them all the time

now it's official.

Yep I am in a nasty mood

[dysfunctional press]

56. what sense of euphoria...???

i must of missed that one.

[Patsy Stone]

57. Nope.

On their worst day, I'd rather have the Democrats in the majority.

[brentspeak]

58. Good grief, it's just the first six months of their majority term

They've screwed up in some major ways, but not in every way. And there's more than enough time to make up for their earlier mistakes.

[rucky]

60. I'll trade all the highs to get rid of the lows. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

61. not at all

getting rid of george allen has been worth it, imo...for that little fact alone, we will always end up on the positive side of things

[onenote]

62. Not at all

and anyone who was euphoric then and feels badly now wasn't paying very much attention to the candidates that they were feeling euphoric about. For a political board, a lot of people here seem to have paid very little attention to the actual positions of the candidates.

People here were euphoric that Lampson captured Delay's seat. But now he's just another "traitor".

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're interested in immediate gratification, stop following politics and take up an interest in horse racing.

[KoKo]

63. Sigh....there have been so many "false starts" it's hard to know...Up and Down...Up and Down...

One gets used to being a YoYo if one is a Democrat. I wonder why that is?

Seems Dems are SOOOOO EVEN...Not a cloud in their sky! They can get folks off for criminal activity through pardons for DECADES! No matter what a Repug does...they NEVER HAVE TO PAY for their Crimes.

It's just amazing. But, Dems live in constant fear...Up..Down...Up...Down.

But...even this cynical/former Idealist did think that when we took Congress back in '06 it would be better than this! I didn't ever expect we'd be stabbed in the back in the dark of night when we didn't have any warning.

I think what they did was really hard to deal with rationally for most of us... But..it just is what it is. We have to move on and not expect so much. It might turn out to be the BEST WAKE UP CALL we ever had... but to what end.. we don't yet know.

[ecstatic]

64. I'll always treasure the memory of Bushit's post election conference

He was soooo angry and pissed.

[Kip Humphrey]

65. I never regret euphoria. I'll take it anytime, anywhere!

Besides, I carried no expectations that the march of global fascism would be interrupted, slowed, or impeded by a Democratic victory.