Its a New Day..We've witnessed History!

i missed McCains speech, but it is good to hear that he was gracious and uniting. the last time i looked the Dems had 54 seats in the Senate..they only need 51 (or is it 52?) to have the majority..so im not exactly sure why you say 60..please explain? though i agree if they have to work together its gonna benefit us all!

wait i think i know what you mean..if the dems had 60 seats in the Senate they'd pretty much be able to railroad anything the wanted right?

The Dems will easily have a majority in the Senate, at least 56 seats or so (out of 100 senators). But Senate rules allow the minority party to fillibuster on a particular issue so long as they have at least over 40 votes to maintain the fillibuster. What this does effectively is that it gives the minority party in the Senate (ie the Republicans now) quite a lot of say because if they have 41 or more Senators, they can maintain a fillibuster on an issue they are particularly not happy with and prevent it being voted on on the Senate floor. Now if the Dems make 9 Senate gains in these elections, this will bring them to 60 Senators. 60 is the magic number which allows one party to stop a fillibuster, this is called 'cloture', ie to close down the debate and force a vote on the Senate floor. So if the Dems had 60 Senators they could prevent most if not in theory all Republican fillibusters and would then be in a far more powerful position to push rapidly legislation through the Senate, even if the Republicans did not like it. But if the Dems fall short of 60 Senators, then they will need to reach out to at least some Republican Senators and obtain compromise to get legislation through. This I believe would be good for the country as it would force the Dems to listen to and compromise with the Republican minority and would also help legislation as well by avoiding rushed legislation rammed through on party line vote.

Well, were all back in the same boat, swim or bail. Only question i had with Obama's speech was when he referrede to his people making history, which people? I wasn't super impressed with his speech, Regan and JFK's were better. The only ray of hope is that the houses' did not get a super majority, so I don't think we can get into too much trouble. We can just watch and wait, actions always speak louder than words. But I do have one question. Why are so many people saying they made history? We were alive, we saw Obama make history, but other than him no one else will be remembered. I can't wait to for his healthcare plan, just like he and McCain have, so I can stop paying for my own. Good nite.

dang i missed McCains speech. but it is good to hear that he was also gracious and urged us to move forward as one!