Just kidding. Actually that was the only stupid question I'll ask here -- knowing full well that you all know the answer.

What I will do is note the sad irony (for Republicans) that, had Rumsfeld done the right thing and resigned long ago, the Republicans might still have control of the Senate. He didn't. They don't.

Now, the Democrats have taken over both houses of congress and the Administration has no choice. They dare not retain Rumsfeld and provoke the newly found powers of oversight and investigation that the American electorate has given the Democrats.

But don't expect this move to totally assuage Democrat's desire to investigate this administration. Not totally, but certainly some.

And though I would love to see this administration pay for it's many trespasses, I would put a much higher priority on such things as a higher minimum wage, universal healthcare, stem-cell research, reconnecting with our allies, and a new plan for Iraq.

But that's just me.

Either way, there is going to be some serious changes for the better - if for no other reason than the newly found set of checks and balances necessary to keep our nation from teetering on the edge of lunacy.

With all the excitement of the 'sea change' in Washington, the Democrat's incredible gains in governorships has gone largely overlooked. This is particularly important, since 1) Governors usually provide a political and fundraising infrastructure and an electoral advantage to it's party in that state, and 2) Over the last 50 years, Governorships have proven the most reliable pool of potential - and eventually successful - presidential candidates for both parties.

This cycle, Democrats took a majority of the governorships in the nation for the first time in 12 years, taking six seats from Republicans - including one incumbent Republican (MD) and five seats left open by outgoing Republicans:

Maryland: Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley defeated Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) 53%-46%

New York: Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) defeated John Faso (R) 69%-29%, taking a seat long held by Republican George Pataki.

Ohio: Rep. Ted Strickland (D) crushed Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (R), winning 60%-37%.

Massachusetts: Deval Patrick (D) handed defeat to Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey (R) 56%-35% to capture the job being vacated by Gov. Mitt Romney (R)

Arkansas: Attorney General Mike Beebe (D) defeated Asa Hutchinson (R) 55%-41%.

Colorado: Bill Ritter (D) defeated Rep. Bob Beauprez (R) 56%-41%

Though Republicans had the governorship of Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Michigan in their crosshairs, Democrats were able to hold on to every one.

Democrats "won control of the House early Wednesday after a dozen years of Republican rule in a resounding repudiation of a war, a president and a scandal-scarred Congress. ... By early Wednesday, Democrats had won 227 seats, enough for control, and were leading for another 6, which would give them 233. Republicans, who hold 229 seats in the current House, won 186 and were leading in another 16, which would give them 202."

Further, "By early this morning, Democrats had picked up more than two dozen Republican-held House seats without losing any of their own, putting Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) into position to become the nation's first female speaker."

More importantly, the Democrats' "victory in the House - overcoming a legendarily efficient White House political machine - represented a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the party and signaled a sea change in the political dynamics in Washington after a dozen years in which Republicans controlled Congress for all but a brief period."

Democrats "captured four of the six Republican-held seats they needed to take control of the Senate, winning critical contests in Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Missouri, and inched closer Wednesday to erasing the GOP's majority." Democrats also "mounted challenges for two remaining Republican-held seats in Virginia and Montana -- and were ahead in both. But in Virginia, Democratic challenger James Webb's lead over Republican incumbent George Allen was razor thin and a recount was likely." Both parties "dispatched lawyers to Virginia to tally uncounted absentee ballots Wednesday, as well as canvass votes counted on Election Day."

With 99.75% of precincts reporting, Webb had 49.58 percent of the vote to Allen's 49.22 percent -- representing about 8,350 votes. In the wee hours of the morning, Democrat Jim Webb declared victory, "...the votes are in and we won." Allen, however, "had no plans to concede, and reminded supporters gathered for him here in Richmond that he has won close elections before. 'The first time I ever won an election...it was 18 votes. We had to have a recount,' Mr. Allen said."

In Montana, Democratic challenger Jon Tester leads Republican incumbent Conrad Burns 49.12% to 48.33% with 90% of precincts reporting.

Online wagering powerhouse, Tradesports.com, is predicting that Democrats take the Senate -- sort of. Read on for an explanation.

Below are the battleground Senate races with the % chance (as determined by the trading activity at Tradesports.com) of the listed party winning that race. (Note, these are not scientific polls and are provided purely for entertainment purposes.)

As of 2:15 PM EST, Tradesports is predicting Dem pickups in PA, OH, VA, MO, MT, and RI with NO GOP Pickups. That would give Democrats control of the Senate. Ironically, the same site is giving a GOP controlled senate a nearly 70% likelihood. The difference likely reflects the idea that, though even if the percent chance given to each individual race is accurate, the probability of ALL of those taking place as predicted is far lower. Thus, the prediction for the Senate at large going to the Democrats is less than the individual race predictions would suggest.

That said, I still think the two sets of data are not entirely in synch, but whatever, this is just for fun anyway.

So today is Election Day. Please make sure you get out and vote.

Below are some resources that you may or may not need during the course of the day, but check them over and see if any help you through the process.

NATIONAL HOTLINES:

1-866-OUR VOTE (1-866-687-8683) (website here)

1-888-DEMVOTE (1-888-336-8683) (DNC hotline)

1-888-SAV-VOTE (1-888-728-8683)(voting machine problems)

ELECTION INCIDENT CLEARINGHOUSE:

ProtectOurVotes.org

Election Protection 365

Video The Vote

VeektheVote (cellphone video reports)

VOTER INFORMATION:

Poll Closing Times & Key Races

Find Your Polling Place

Declaration of Independence

U.S. Constitution

Just as Republicans were preparing their talking points to tout a tightening of the so-called 'generic ballot' (a poll that aims to determine the electorates' general preference for party control), along comes a spider.

Over the weekend, the GOP was smiling about polls from Pew and ABC that showed a Democratic lead over the Republicans of only 4% and 6% respectively - But that picture has changed dramatically.

From Politicalwire:

• The latest Fox News poll gives Democrats an edge on the generic congressional ballot, where they lead Republicans, 49 percent to 36 percent. The survey also showed Democrats were more excited about the elections, and more motivated to vote, than their Republican counterparts. "More Democrats (37% ) than Republicans (26%) say they are extremely interested in tomorrow's elections, and more Democrats (89%) than Republicans (81%) say they plan to vote for their party's candidate in their district."

• CNN's final national poll before the elections shows President Bush's approval rating dipping to 35 percent and Democrats leading Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, 58 percent to 38 percent.

The average of these two polls gives Democrats a massive 16.5 point advantage over Republicans with just hours until the voting booths open.

VOTE!!!

In the final throes of Republican power, the President has simply given up. He could have been campaigning for Allen in VA, Corker in TN, Burns in MT, Chaffee in RI or even Kyl in AZ, but instead, President Bush decided to spend the bulk of the final day before the critical midterms stumping for... wait for it...

...Katharine Harris!

That's right. Harris -- his savior in 2000 has turned into one of the GOP's many Achilles heels in 2006, but Bush is there for her even though she has not one chance in Hell of defeating her opponent, incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson (who she trails by 25-30 points depending on which polls you follow).

Ironically, the appearance is one that suggests President Bush is a man who has simply given up on the people that have supported him over the past six years - something that cannot feel too warm and fuzzy to those considering a vote for their local Republican candidate.

Democrat Jim Webb has taken an eight point lead over Republican George Allen in the final poll of the 2006 campaign for U.S. Senate in Virginia.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, shows Webb with 52% of the likely voters, with 44% going to Allen. The five prior SurveyUSA tracking polls showed the race in a virtual dead heat -- with Allen slightly ahead.

We knew this time would come. And though there will inevitably be those of you who cringe at the thought of a Democrat actually EXPECTING to win an election AND doing it in a BIG way AND being outspoken about it BEFORE the election takes place, I stand my ground.

And to those people, I say take a deep look inside. You know I'm right. Sure, your fear of loss will disallow you from admitting it -- perhaps even to yourself, but you know deep down inside that the GOP has seen its final days.

You know.

It's time to let the anachronistic pile of dung that is neoconservatism die a rapid but excruciatingly painful death.

It's time to abolish the anti-American, slime-sucking, low-balling, shrill-shrieking troglodytes from making critical life and death decisions for our families.

Yes, it's time to say riddance (and not even 'good' riddance) to the Republican Party.

You know the only thing that matters now is turnout, and if you think that's going to favor the Republicans, think again.

In a cycle like this, Rove's 72 hour plan  will be a TOTAL WASHOUT..

The fact is that Democrats are FIRED UP!!!

While conservatives are totally demoralized.

Let's take a look...

In an era of White House government secrecy not seen since the paranoia of Richard Nixon swept across our great nation, it is particularly disturbing to see one of our local officials denying his constituency insight on his positions -- from stem cell research to rocketing property taxes.

NY State Senator Stephen Saland is the official at issue -- a seeming opaque and obsessively defensive legislator from the 41st district.

In an extensive search for information regarding Senator Saland's positions, I accidentally found more information about Dick Cheney's secret energy task force than I did about Senator Saland's positions on just about any issue.

Ironically, one thing I was able to find was an explanation of why I couldn't find any meaningful information about the Senator.

The American Association for Retired Persons (AARP), America's largest Seniors advocacy group, was dismissed by NY State Senator Stephen Saland by refusing to share with them, his positions on relevant issues.

Some suggest that incumbent Saland's 'seniors snub' was a defensive move to conceal his anti-seniors actions in the Senate. As a part of the Senate Republican majority, Saland blocked legislation for NY State drug bulk buying and other bills that would have lowered drug and healthcare costs.

Saland's challenger for NY's 41st District, Democrat Brian Keeler, found this an opportunity to highlight the differences between his support for America's seniors and Saland's pandering to corporate interests at the expense of his constituency.

Thus, Since Saland snubbed the AARP's request for information, we can provide only the respective policies and ideals of Democrat Brian Keeler below.

As polls continue to roll in just 5 days to the most important election of the last 50 years, one thing is clear: Democrats are positioned to destroy Republican majorities in both the House of Representatives AND the Senate.

Connecticut

Quinnipiac University - 926 likely voters 10/24-30

Joe Lieberman (Would vote with Dems for Senate Leadership) ~ 49%
Ned Lamont (D) ~ 37%
Alan Schlesinger (R) at 8%.

Rasmussen - 500 likely voters

Lieberman ~48%
Lamont ~ 40%

---

Maryland

Zogby Interactive online

Rep. Ben Cardin (D) ~ 52.8%
Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) ~ 43.5%

---

Michigan

Zogby Interactive online

Debbie Stabenow ~ 49.3%
Mike Bouchard ~ 41.9%

---

Minnesota

St. Cloud State University - 494 likely voters - 10/15-27

Amy Klobuchar (D) ~ 56%
Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) ~ 31%.

---

Missouri

SurveyUSA - 10/31

Claire McCaskill (D) - 49%
Sen. Jim Talent (R) - 43%.

---

Pennsylvania

Quinnipiac University - 933 likely voters 10/23-29

Bob Casey Jr. (D) ~ 52%
Sen. Rick Santorum (R) 42%

Keystone Poll  - 626 registered voters - 10/25-29

Casey (D) ~ 53%
Santorum (R) ~ 38%

Zogby Interactive online poll

Casey (D) ~ 52.7%
Santorum (R) ~ 43.8%

Given that the 'undecideds' tend to break for the challenger, CW suggests that non-incumbent strength like that seen in these polls and others so close to the election means that the GOP is in for a rout.

From Pollster.com

New York 26 -- Leans Dem
(Avg of Last 5 Polls)
Jack Davis (D) -- 49
Tom Reynolds (R)* -- 43
_

The first thing people in NY's 26th district should remember when entering election booths next week is that Republican Rep. Tom Reynolds subordinated the need to protect America's children in favor of ensuring a safe GOP seat in Florida's 16th district.

Reynolds' Pedophile Protection Policy was in full swing when he persuaded GOP Rep. Mark Foley to run yet again for his Florida congressional seat despite the fact that Reynolds and other Republican leaders had been made aware of Foley's 'inappropriate' e-mails to a teenage congressional page by the page's congressional sponsor, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.).

The second thing you should know is that this is not the only time that Tom Reynolds has abused his privileged position as the congressional representative for Western NY.

New York 29 -- Strong Dem
(Avg of Last 3 Polls)
Eric Massa (D) -- 48
Randy Kuhl (R)* -- 41
_

The last two polls for NY's 29th District have shown Eric Massa leading his Republican opponent by less than the polls' margins of error. That has all changed with the latest poll results.

Now Massa leads Kuhl by 12 points according to a new poll conducted by the independent organization Majority Watch.

The poll shows Massa with 52% of likely voters preferring him compared to only 40% selecting Kuhl. In addition, voters in the northern half of the 29th district (Rochester suburbs and parts of Ontario County) favor Massa by 26%. In the GOP-leaning Southern tier, Kuhl still maintains his advantage, but only by a single point.

This surge comes after both candidates have "dramatically increased their media presence on both radio and television and have participated in a series of five public debates":

"We knew from earlier polling that name recognition was our biggest challenge," said Massa's Campaign Manager, Mike Nolan. Previous data had indicated that voters familiar with both Massa and Kuhl preferred the challenger by a margin of 2 to 1. "The voters are tired of Randy Kuhl," continued Nolan. "Once they get a chance to hear from Eric Massa they overwhelmingly support him."