Christine O'Donnell Is Not A Witch

She's also not Senator from the "First State" of Delaware.

Thanks be to God!

Last time I checked, with 99% of all votes counted in the state, Democrat Christopher Coons defeated Republican Christine O’Donnell 57% to 40%. Coons commanded 173,900 votes, while O’Donnell received 123,025.

She did win two of Delaware’s three counties, Kent and Sussex (AKA "Lower, Slower Delaware" - which is my county), O’Donnell lost big in the state's most populated county of New Castle.

Interestingly enough O’Donnell received 44% of the male vote in this election, while only getting 36% of the female vote. Tea Party voters, who funded her campaign, were surprised, thinking, simplistically (as they are wont to do) the 41 year old female would have appealed more to voters of her own sex.

It would be wrong to count her out of any future elections. She's no Elphaba - the Wicked Witch of the West of L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz. Neither is she The Good Witch Glinda. But, she does try to defy the downward gravity of her Tea Party platform.

Besides Delaware, Democrats did chalk up wins against Sharron Angle in Nevada, Linda McMahon in Connecticut, John Raese in West Virginia, and Carly Fiorina in California, and this morning Colorado was called for the Democrats. Votes are still being counted in Washington State, but it looks like Democrats will prevail there as well.

The loss of a Democratic Majority loss was a huge disappointment - although, if you listened to the polls, it was not a surprise. The Senate, however, remains solidly Democrat, which should make the next two years very interesting in terms of getting anything substantial passed.

Most experts are saying that we are probably safe from major hits - but not some change - to the Health Care Reform Bill, but those who are concerned with reproductive rights are raising eyebrows of concern that anti-abortionists gained strength in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Tuesday's election, setting the stage for legislation that could be even more damaging to women's access to health care than the Stupak abortion-coverage ban.

I must admit, I'm very, very nervous about this particular issue. We are going to have to work even harder for reproductive rights for women than we have in the past unless we want to see further erosion of the rights of women.

My concern is that the very real anxiety about unemployment and the recession will create a climate that will make it even easier for sexism and misogyny - not to mention racism and draconian immigration laws - to flourish.

Don't even get me started on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Marriage Equality.

As President Obama somberly said in today's noon press conference, "The power of government does not rest with those elected to government positions. The power of government rests with the people."

I never thought I'd quote Sarah Palin, but "You betcha!" Politicians, beware! Democrats, Republicans and Tea Party members are not in power.

We the people are.

And, it's not just "fiscal sanity" we want to restore. We want to restore sanity to the mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world of people who interpret the Constitutional foundation of "freedom and justice" to be for some - not all.

Meanwhile, Andy Borowitz of The Borowitz Report is reporting, with his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek, that Canada is reporting a huge jump in immigration - over 55,000,000 requests just since Tuesday night!

Borowitz reports:

Of those fifty-five million requests, well over 99.99% of them came from U.S. citizens, with a particularly large number coming from residents of Florida and Kentucky.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said that he was “flabbergasted” by the fifty-five-million-plus requests for Canadian citizenship, adding that it was difficult to pinpoint the precise reasons for the staggering increase.

“My only theory is that after the 2010 winter Olympics, the sport of curling is finally starting to catch on,” he said.

In other news, responding to last night’s election returns, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters, “I’m so stoked I just turned the tanning bed up to eleven.”

But former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin struck a more somber note, saying that despite several key victories, “it was a tough night for Tea Party voters because it involved so much math.”

It will be sort of fun, two years hence, to watch Tea Partiers eat a little crow for a change, when they can't create jobs, lower taxes and reverse the recession in the same amount of time they've given the present administration to perform the same miracle.

They just might call Christine O'Donnell in to dust off her black pointy hat and toss it back in the ring.

I know. I know. Even, Tom Ross, the Chairman of the Republican Party in Delaware said, "She's not a viable candidate for any office in the state of Delaware. She could not be elected dog catcher."

Even so, solid money is on the fact that she's already standing by ready, willing and . . . well. . . . she'd have to defy a whole lot more than gravity to be able to be elected in this state.

But, don't count her out. She may not be able to defy gravity, but she is nothing if not persistent. And, young. She's got plenty of time to learn.

And then, watch her fly.