YES! They got the Senate as well... (hopefully)

Well, the news from the USA just gets better and better. Democrat James Webb (pity it isn't Jimmy Webb, who wrote "By the Time I get to Phoenix" - at least I assume it isn't?) was leading Republican George Allen by around 7,000 votes with almost all the votes counted, and Allen's conceded, on the grounds that he's too far behind Webb for a recount to make a difference to the result.

This means that the Senate is split 49-49 between the Democrats and Republicans, plus 2 Independents who are (according to the media pundits) likely to vote with the Democrats. One of these is Vermont senator Bernie Sanders who describes himself as a 'democratic socialist' - which reminded me of Blenau Gwent's independent Labour MP Dai Davies. The other is Joe Lieberman, who ran as an independent in Connecticut and beat official Democrat candidate Ned Lamont, who beat him in the primary for the Democratic candidacy on an anti-war ticket.

While Sanders looks a safe bet, I would not be completely surprised if Lieberman ended up voting with the Republicans on some of the key issues, as many of his policy positions seem indistinguishable from the Republicans. He's not alone in this of course - many of the Democrats in both houses of Congress look and feel very similar to the Republicans. But as an Independent, Lieberman may be easier to turn over to the 'dark side', to use a Star Wars analogy. Brown envelopes, or whatever the equivalent currency is used in American politics, may be flying around Capitol Hill like frisbees by January... it's gonna be very interesting, especially after the complete stasis of American politics over the last 2 years. There is also a bigger factor at work, which needs its own post... coming up.