Allen concedes defeate--Democrats take Senate

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., delivers a concession speech with his wife, Susan, at his side, in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006. Allen conceded defeat Thursday to Democrat Jim Webb, sealing the Democrats' control of Congress and the political downfall of a man once considered a White House contender. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Well, the last race has been decided. Virginia senator George Allen has conceded defeate to Democratic challenger Jim Webb. This is from the New York Times:

Senator George Allen of Virginia conceded today that he lost to the Democratic challenger, Jim Webb, ending the last undecided Senate contest and giving Democrats control of the full Congress for the first time in a dozen years.

“In this season the people of Virginia, who I always call the owners of the government, they have spoken,” Mr. Allen said. “And I respect their decision.” He said he had called to congratulate Mr. Webb, who had already claimed victory in the race after Tuesday’s voting.

[....]

The triumph in Virginia effectively gives Democrats 51 seats in the Senate. (Representative Bernard Sanders, the senator-elect from Vermont, is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut is a Democrat, although he ran for re-election as an independent after losing in the primary.)

This is big. Over the past couple of days, there have been rumors that Allen would demand a recount of the Virginia ballots, hoping to find enough votes to push him over the slight lead that Webb had maintained. In the end, Webb defeated Allen "by less than 1 percent, or 8,805 votes."

So now the Democrats have control of both Houses in Congress. They can initiate their own legislation, use Congress as their own megaphone to blunt the White House bully pulpit, conduct investigations and oversight into the White House scandals, and force the president to select moderate federal and potential Supreme Court judges. That is the good news.

The bad news is that the Democrats could let the power of Congress get to their heads. For over four years, the Democrats have been shut out of governing by a Republican-controlled Congress, and a Republican White House. The desire for revenge against the Republicans can be tempting. The Democrats have to realize that the American voters gave them a referendum to legislate, when they gave the Democrats control of Congress--just as the American voters gave a referendum to the Republicans for their own failure to legislate for the good of the country. This brings us back to bipartisanship. The Democrats are going to need to show the American people that they can also legislate in a bipartisan manner. They need to show to the American people that they can also work with the Bush White House in passing legislation for the good of the country. And just as I've questioned whether President Bush can work with the Democratic Congress in a bipartisan manner, rather than using the Congress as a rubber-stamp, I also pose the same question to the Democratic Congress.

It will be an interesting next year.