With last week's shift from red to blue in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the campaign fray is finally over - or so it would seem.
But if you thought you were safe from political bombshells, take cover; it won't be long before the posturing and pontificating for the 2008 elections begins.
Bloody Tuesday, as it may come to be referred to by the GOP, ended with Democrats taking a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is the first time in 12 years that the party has had congressional control.
To add insult to the Republicans' injury, Democrats garnered a majority of governorships across the nation.
What would seem like a sweeping victory for the Democratic Party and certainly should have President Bush worried, should not precipitate too early a celebration.
Clearly, there was a reason for a fundamental shift in power: moderate America does not like extremists.
It would be fair to say that Democrats won Congress as much as Republicans lost it. The growing national disenchantment over Iraq and a multitude of other issues aided in the grand oust.
The Bush administration took its "mandate" and ran with it, and in the end, accomplished very little.
Over the years, under the Bush administration, the country arrived at a national deficit, looming foreign policy issues with Iran and North Korea, and a conflict in Iraq with no end in sight.
Of course, there was also a host of domestic issues, like the No Child Left Behind Act, worries about Social Security and of course, the recent "suspension" of habeas corpus.
Throw in an overemphasis on the gay-marriage question in the 2004 elections and that covers much of it nicely.
The truth of the matter is the Republican Party today is very far from the classical conservatism of Edmund Burke.
Fiscal responsibility and small government were former tenets of the GOP, tenets that were reasonable and understandable - but no more.
Today, Republicans have become just as spendthrift as Democrats once were criticized for.
In the 21st century, the neoconservative movement and the religious right have hijacked the GOP.
Even former President Bill Clinton was careful to note in his speech at ASU last month that the Republican Party is being led by this movement, and it is not Republicans as a whole who are to blame for the country's problems.
There has been too much of an extremist, neoconservative focus on the part of the GOP, and this, along with the history of the Bush administration, most likely hurt them in the election.
This is evident, considering that the independent and moderate Republican vote made the difference in many cases.
The fact that independents and partisan moderates are the ones who swing elections means Democrats have been given an opportunity that should not be wasted. It's clear that the American people do not give out mandates.
Bush is well on his way to being a lame duck, and the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld only confirmed that. Thus, the next two years are crucial for both parties.
Congress, in Democratic control, has a real chance to enact positive change and alter the course of the United States. But, there also exists the possibility that they could screw it up.
Looking ahead to 2008, the Democrats will need to do their best to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans to improve the country, and avoid the same extremism that hurt the GOP in the last election cycle.
The Republicans, in turn, must learn to be more moderate. Hopefully, with moderation and bipartisanship, we can reach a kind of Middle America, an America that a real majority actually mandates.
Rick Beitman is a political science and French senior who is taking a break from politics for the time being (unless something comes up). Contact him at: Richard.Beitman@asu.edu.
