7 Victories Inside 1 Defeat

1. The election of America's first African-American president. While conservatives cannot applaud his policies, they can appreciate and embrace the historic moment of Obama's election and how it will contribute to the nation's social stability.

2. One word: cloture. The Democats' failure to reach 60 votes in the Senate means the filibuster is, theoretically, in tact. The Senate will remain able to perform is constitutional function of slowing ill-considered bills coming from a very liberal House.

3. Three words: No Al Franken. Of all the races that would inflict the most pain, the election of Al Franken to the Senate has to be very near the top. At least, we won't have to listen to that.

4. The strategic sense of Alaska Republicans. I don't believe Alaskans like voting for convicted felons. However, it probably swam into focus that if they didn't they were going to be stuck with a Democrat senator for six years. Stevens' reelection opens the way for an appointment or a special election (there are conflicting state statutes on the matter). Regardless, it will be a Republican. By the way, who's the most popular Republican in Alaska?

5. I think we've hit bottom. Conditions are unlikely to be better for Democrats or worse for Republicans for the balance of my life. The long decline that began with Hurricane Katrina and ran through the Iraq meltdown probably reached its nadir last night. How long the recovery takes will depend on the ulitmate imponderable in politics: events.

6. The victors themselves. While they are not alone in this characteristic of political parties riding an election high, the Democrats (particularly in the House) are likely to start believing their own press releases. This inevitably leads to over-reaching and in that over-reaching is the Republican come-back.

7. Cleaning out the deadwood. Some of the Senate losses were richly deserved (Elizabeth Dole, call your office.) The godlessness attack on her opponent harkened back to the 1930s. When your accomplishments and attentiveness to your state are so lacking that you are forced to reach for a despicable charge like that, it's time to go. The closeness of the presidential race in North Carolina indicates that it will continue to be a Senate battleground with good opportunities for the GOP in six years.