I know it has gone fairly unheralded, but we have one more new Democratic member of Congress as of yesterday, and I for one, am pretty darn pleased. Not only are we getting back a member of Congress who voted against the war, but we are seeing a slow repudiation of the 2003 Tom DeLay redistricting debacle. We will be greeting returning Texas member Ciro Rodriguez in January, who beat 14-year incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla. Those of you around for the 108th Congress remember Rodriguez as a member of Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees, as well as the chair of the Hispanic caucus, so the Iraq vote was pretty brave. He had what some could almost define as a miraculous resurrection yesterday, after a pretty rocky two years.

(more…)

Okay, now these guys are just making me mad! The discussion on NPR (not the hotbed of conservatism) they were discussing how hard it would be for Democrats who have won all these “Republican” seats. Now granted, a few of these folks are going to have to keep their heads down, but lots of these seats were not “Republican” seats, they were “Democratic” seats with Republicans in them or swing seats, which are identified as seats below +5.0 on either side. A third of the new Democrats (28 to date) are from Democratic seats, ten of them came from districts that voted for Clinton. Obviously redistricting played into this as well. Only seven new members are from districts with over +5 Republican performance. Eight of the Republican districts have been trending or have been made to be more Democratic, even during the heyday of the Bush administration.

Let’s go to the numbers:

(more…)

About a Third of the Democrats who voted for the War are Gone

Of the 81 Democrats who voted for the war resolution in October of2005, 25 are gone from Congress, one hangs in the balance (William Jefferson, whose prospects look bleak) and two lost their seats for two years and have returned, Baron Hill and Nick Lampson. (Remember, 126 Democrats voted against the war, along with now Senator-elect Bernie Sanders). We can expect to have only 55 Democrats who voted for thewar in our new 229+ majority (a number of outstanding races make this an unknowable number at present). Members retiring, running for higher office or being defeated after their vote:

(more…)