Dawn?

Some changes afoot: the House of Reps switches from a Republican to a Democratic majority, with the Senate likely following suit; the Democrats picked up a number of key governorships last night; and Rummy steps down as Sec'y of Defense. This is certainly an impressive sequence of things falling into place.

Your Uncle Salad is skeptical about what it will all actually mean once the new terms begin in January. When Bush squeaked by in the 2004 general election, he coined the term "political capital" to indicate his slight margin of victory being a mandate. Of course, reality begged to differ. I'm afraid of Pelosi and the rest of the Dem ruling class thinking along the same terms, as if the country weren't still polarized along the same red/blue lines it's been since the 1996 midterms.

While this election was a referendum on Iraq (among other things), there is still a prevailing culture of social conservatism among a great deal of voters. Just because they wanted a change in Iraq policy doesn't mean that they want homos gettin' married and shit. A buncha states managed to pass restrictive gay marriage bans, even if South Dakota killed the abortion ban referendum.

All's I'm saying is that this was a symbolic groundswell of public opinion, but it doesn't mean a hill of beans just yet. Prove to me that this will change anything to a great degree, and I will mail you a copy of the official "AmericanCaesar Salad Home Trivia and Behind-the-Scenes Factoid Companion", a handy guidebook to the goings-on of the No. 1 Google-rated* internet destination. Enter early and often -- void where prohibited, families of employees not eligible.

*A bald-faced lie.