Well, it coulda. Given the mood in the country ("That uppity black intellectual and his party haven't been able to fix in twenty-two months what it took Bush & Co. eight years to wreck? Throw the bums out!") it wasn't nearly the disaster one might have expected. (Shouldn't say "one." That's uppity intellectual talk.) Sestak and Feingold are the two big losses. On the other hand, those truly crazy people, O'Donnell and Angle, and here in NY Paladino, did not get themselves elected. Rand Paul did, which will make for some interesting congress-watching. The thing is this: the Congressional seating chart may look awfully red right now, but the Tea Party people aren't Republicans. They're golems the Republican Party created, and now they're walking and talking and uncontrollable by their creators. The whole golem thing, it never comes out well.

And does anyone else get an acid flashback every time you think about California?