Give Change a Chance

I am happier today then I was the other day. The "people" have spoken. The polls were accurate as it turns out and now the Democrats will control both house of congress for the first time since 1995. I kinda feel alot like the Red Sox fans after they won their first world series in 90 years. Dazed...happy...and not sure how to respond to the being a "winner". Now it is clear to me that this election sends a serious message to Washington....change is needed. But I want to make sure all you liberals and progressives out there (I put myself in that category) do not allow your recent good fortune to delude you in to thinking that the long american conservative nightmare is over. It is not. We are not going to wake up on January 3rd 2007 and suddenly have all the things we have been fighting for. This is only the beginning. The leaders in of the new congress should not repeat the mistakes of the leaders of the "Republican Revolution" who attempted in their first 6 months in power to undo and dismantle everything the Democrats had done in the previous 50 years. In other words...they went too far and in the next election, Americans let them know about it. The other thing that America rejected in the late 90s was the constant attacks on the President and calls for his impeachment and investigations. Now with congress in the hands of Democrats, many want the Democrats to use their power to encourage investigations and to move toward impeachment of the president. In other words...turn-about is fair play right? Uh....no. Wrong answer. Americans do not want more impeachment and investigations on top of investigations. They want progress. They want to clean-up government and they want a plan for Iraq. They also want a fix for social security, health care, and many other things. We should take the next few days to reflect on how we are going to use our power to make these things happen...not scheduling hearings and developing witness lists. Oversight is necessary...but we can't afford to overreach. Now is the time for reaching across the aisle and building support for our agenda. Let us stay focused...find our common ground...and work our plan. That is the change the people seek. Let's give them that.