It's time to celebrate, and then get to work

It was a fascinating night to follow the returns. After being glued to the television and the computer for the first few hours, I headed out and stopped by the Kohl/Moore party and then to newly elected State Sen. Jim Sullivan's victory party at Miller Park. Sullivan defeated reactionary Republican Tom Reynolds in Wisconsin's 5th State Senate district in a victory against extremism in our state legislature. Sullivan's win also contributed to the Democrats taking the State Senate in Wisconsin.

Nationally, the Democrats have reclaimed the House of Representatives bringing back a check on the balance of power in Washington. In Wisconsin, Steve Kagen defeated John Gard to contribute to that victory. Gov. Jim Doyle has retained the governorship with an impressive margin (a year ago, I predicted a Doyle victory by 5%). The balance of power in the Senate appears to be going down to the wire in Virginia with the Allen-Webb race. In Wisconsin, the Attorney General's race may not be decided tonight either between Falk and Van Hollen. Even with those races to be decided, we've already seen a huge shift in power in the state and the country.

It certainly is disappointing that the marriage amendment passed for those of us who fought against it. Given that younger voters tend to view gay marriage as less of problem than the general populace, I like to think the country is moving in the right direction. If this amendment were on the ballot a few years down the road, perhaps the result may have been different.

On balance, it's a time to rejoice given the results we have seen tonight. Once the celebrating ends, and the newly elected are inaugurated, the hard work will need to be done to address the important domestic and international issues the current leadership has failed to. The country is hungry for leadership based on the results today.

Telling stat of the day: Not one Democratic incumbent in Congress lost tonight, a mirror image of what Republicans experienced in 1994.