For the first time in 12 years, the Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives and with a little bit of luck, they could regain control of the Senate, something they haven't seen since early in the Bush presidency. If all the Senate seats were up for grabs, like the House seats were, we'd be talking about a Democratic landslide tonight, but instead we're in for a long night as Senate results from Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Montana keep trickling in. Democrats need 3 out of 4 races to gain control, something unthinkable just a few weeks ago, especially in Virginia where Sen. George Allen expected to coast in his race for re-election. But calling somebody Macaca seemed to begin his downfall and Jim Webb took swift advantage of this and Allen's loyalty to an unpopular president.

Pertaining to the House races, Republicans liked to say that local issues will dictate how the elections would go instead of the national furor against the war. Boy were they sorely mistaken. Exit polls consistently said that people were unhappy with the war, unhappy with the president, and we need a change. As the party in power, Republicans had to have been bracing for a loss, but probably not the 30 seat loss NBC is projecting. Of course, the Mark Foley sex scandal didn't help in the final days of the campaign, especially when it looked as if the Republicans had turned a corner. However, even with this new power, it's currently unclear what the Democrats will do with it. Their campaign, as it was in 2004, was based on promising not to do things the Bush way. Democrats failed then to produce a plan of their own and as a result, failed to win the White House. This year, Democrats won with the same strategy but still haven't put forth any idea on how things will change. On Iraq, do we pull out? Can't do that. Add troops? Very unpopular. Increase Iraqi troops? Well, Bush is already doing that. On the economy, can't raise taxes. Unemployment is at 4.4%, which is pretty low. The economy is still growing, albeit slowly.

Here in California, we're immune to the national picture. In fact, we've gone against the tide. Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected overwhelmingly as Governor and Republicans are actually leading in a few statewide offices after suffering a Democratic sweep 4 years ago.

Finally in the city of San Jose, Chuck Reed holds his lead for mayor, and rightfully so. He seems better suited to rebuild the foundation of the city before he can hand over the reins of the office to somebody who can be a visionary.