Craig Charney: “Why Dems won”: The congressional power shift in the 2006 elections only became possible because of another, less-noticed change: the Democratic Party’s shift toward the center…
George Will: “Inoculated for Exuberance“: Ten years ago next month, when the Dow was at 6437.10 and the Nasdaq was at 1300.12 — on Wednesday they were 12,176.54 and 2384.94, respectively — Alan Greenspan warned against “irrational exuberance.” But Tuesday’s election results were fresh evidence that two events that profoundly shaped American politics during the past two presidencies were episodes of irrational exuberance unrelated to economic behavior…
Perry Bacon: ”Republicans Regroup“: After taking a drubbing in this week’s congressional elections, the G.O.P. has a plan: rediscovering the Spirit of 1994, the year when the Republicans pulled off their own historic retaking of Congress…
Charles Krauthammer: “They’re Bummed“: How serious is the “thumpin’” the Republicans took on Tuesday? Losing one house is significant but hardly historic. Losing both houses, however, is defeat of a different order of magnitude, the equivalent in a parliamentary system of a vote of no confidence…
Peggy Noonan: “Concession Stands“: In a way they never tell the truth until the concession speech. That’s when nothing they say can hurt them anymore. They’re worn to the bone and they’ve been in a struggle and it’s over, and suddenly some basic, rock-solid, dumb knowledge of what they’ve been involved in–a great nation’s life–comes loose and declares itself…
Barry Casselman: “Triumph in the center“: The 2006 midterm elections are over now, and here come the claims of winners and allocations of blame to the losers…
Daniel Henninger: “Like Father, Like Son?”: With the appointment of Robert Gates–CIA director from 1991 to 1993–to succeed Don Rumsfeld as secretary of defense, George W. Bush has brought upon himself much talk about sons in the shadow of their fathers…
Peter Beinart: “Block Party“: Now that they have taken the House (and probably the Senate), Democrats should start acting like Republicans…
James Mann: “Understanding Gates“: In the early months of 1989, the overriding foreign policy issue for the new George H.W. Bush administration was how to deal with Mikhail Gorbachev. Did the Soviet leader represent fundamental change, or was he merely a new face for the same old policies?