What’s the scariest thing that comes to mind when you think about the prospect of a Democratic majority in the House and or the Senate?

John Boehner

What’s most troubling about the prospect of a Democrat majority is the idea that so many old and backward ideas would be reintroduced as standard practice and imposed on the American public. Think about it: Charlie Rangel, John Dingell, Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers, Henry Waxman, George Miller…all of these Democrats were the ones in power when we threw them out of the majority back in 1994! Why was that? Because they were wrong then and they’re wrong now!

These very same Democrats were pushing a backward agenda centered on higher taxes, weak national security, bigger government, unaccountable schools and socialized medicine. The American people shoved these folks out of the driver’s seat back in 1994 because they were driving the country off a cliff. There is nothing to indicate that they’ve changed and won’t do it again.

— John Boehner is majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bridget Johnson

I can think of one thing slightly scarier than Howard Dean donning a French -maid costume, and that would be the post-Halloween death of perspective in policymaking that would come with a Democratic majority. The Dems have been making inroads with the voters lately by whipping out the Iraq boogeyman, painting it as a no-win situation that’s winning al Qaeda converts by the thousands and losing scores of American lives. While every life lost is tragic, there have been slightly more than 2,800 U.S. deaths in Iraq, a conflict that is now several months longer than the Korean War, which had an American death toll of more than 36,000 (and, no, peacenik marchers, the GOP is not aiming for that). And if the Democrats think the price has been too high for ousting Saddam, what price would be too high for winning the War on Terror? Where would we stop and withdraw, at what cost? Of course, that depends on if you’re asking a lefty who believes there is/should be a War on Terror — and those blinders alone are scary enough.

— Bridget Johnson is a columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News. She blogs at GOP Vixen.

Mark R. Levin

A Democrat victory would be a victory for elitism. The Left’s agenda is advanced through international organizations, the judiciary, the administrative state, and government schools. None of them are responsive or accountable to the popular will. Indeed, they’re celebrated for their “independence.” Liberals are not satisfied with winning elections here and there. It’s too impermanent. But when they do win elections, they use the opportunity to inoculate their agenda from future elections by further empowering these anti-democratic forces. So, they want the U.N. to direct our foreign policy, the judiciary to sculpt our culture, the EPA to regulate private property, and public schools to indoctrinate our children. This is the portend of a Democrat victory.

– Mark R. Levin is a nationally syndicated radio-talk-show host and president of Landmark Legal Foundation .

Edward Morrissey

The irony of Halloween in 2006 is that it comes one week too early. The most frightening apparition for this year would be Democratic control of Congress, mostly because the Democrats have made clear that they do not believe the nation is at war.

We can expect the new majority to defund our forward strategy to engage terrorists on their turf, forcing the administration to retreat from Iraq in particular and the Middle East in general, to a new “event horizon” as far away as Okinawa. They have also made clear that their focus will be on law enforcement — by forcing counterterrorism efforts to use criminal law procedures instead of wartime terror-prevention techniques that the Bush administration has deployed. Instead of pursuing democratization, primarily in Iraq but also elsewhere in the region, we will return to the realpolitik that keeps oppressive regimes in power, allowing them to stoke anti-American rage as an outlet for the political impotence of their subjects.

The more mundane spookiness of the Democrats pales in comparison to the real horror show these policies will create. We can reverse overregulation. We cannot reverse 9/11 or the attacks that will follow after adopting the same policies that led to it.

— Edward Morrissey blogs at Captain’s Quarters .

Grover Norquist

In horror movies, the worst scenes are those where you watch the victim repeat an error. Don’t open that door. Don’t wander around the estate alone. Should the Democrats win one or both Houses there will be a temptation for the White House to repeat Daddy Bush’s suicidal decision to have a bipartisan budget summit at Andrews Air Force base. Taxes were raised. A presidency was destroyed.

In the sequel, Bush 43 would agree to a summit to “fix” the looming entitlement-spending problem. Tax hikes and benefit cuts for Republicans on Social Security would replace candidate Bush’s effort to privatize social security and his promise to not raise taxes and cut benefits. We have seen this movie before and it ends up with lots of blood on the floor. Real blood. Our blood.

– Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform . James S. Robbins

The scariest thing about the prospect of a Democratic majority in either house will be the stimulating and addictive effect of the subpoena power. Bush-administration officials of all departments and ranks will spend most of their time preparing for, attending, or dealing with the fallout from hearings, investigations, and the like. This will lead to frustration, resignations, perhaps prosecutions (contrived perjury and obstruction charges the preferred method) and impeachments (it’s not just for presidents — though payback at that level will be high on the agenda). In short, two years of open warfare leading up to 2008. There will certainly be a lot for us to write about.

— James S. Robbins is author of Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point , and is currently writing a book on the Tet Offensive.