Meet Howard Dean, the Man Behind the Democratic Party

The November 7 election has passed on the calendar and it is time to see where the Republican and Democratic parties stand as the elections have passed. Coming into the election the Democrats were behind 6 seats in the Senate. Thanks in large part to Democratic chairman Howard Dean, the Democrats are sure to gain at least several seats in the Senate and in Congress. The Get Out The Vote effort has been phenomenal for the Democrats throughout the United States and the party has really gained more popularity and voters around the county in swing states where the voting outcome for elections are uncertain.

History and statistics have shown that it is extremely difficult to defeat an incumbent candidate in office, or a candidate who is already in office and is running for re-election. Incumbent senators win around 95% of the elections. This upcoming election is different however. Democrats have really gathered in large numbers and organized mass amounts of volunteers and fundraisers to raise money for the Get Out The Vote effort.

The critical swing states in which the senator election seat is up for grabs includes the states of Missouri, Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio and Tennessee. These states can go either way in the Senate races. The Republican Party seems very desperate in some of these senate races and they have resorted to using negative advertisements. The irritating thing about the ads isn't just that they are negative and bashing the Democratic candidate, but the fact that most of these commercials and ads deal with sex in some way.

For example, in New York, a close Congressional race is the Michael Arcuri race of the 20th district. Arcuri had tried to call a government agency and dialed the right number except he dialed the wrong area code. Instead of a government agency he was on the phone with a sex hotline he called by mistake. Once he realized that he was on the phone with a sex hotline, he immediately hung up. The call was traced back to him and Republicans came out with the commercials that he was using tax payers' money to pay for sex hotlines. In the background of the commercial are sex models. The commercial is sleezy and even funny in a sick, twisted manner. However, to some Americans who didn't' know the history of the phone call, the commercial might influence the voter to vote for the unknown Republican candidate. In another commercial against the same candidate, Michael Arcuri, a comerical stated that he let a convicted sex offender back onto the streets and numerous other criminals as a District Attorney.

In Ohio the Democrats have run such a successful Senate campaign that the Democratic candidate is actually leading the Republican incumbent by 20 points in the latest polls. Ohio is a crucial swing state and if you recall from the last presidential election, Ohio was a critical state that President Bush won that won him the presidency.

In the House of Representatives the Democrats are also gaining many seats and they need 16 to even the Republicans in the House. Many Congressional candidates are keying in on the impact of the Iraq war and Republicans are scrambling for cover. Perhaps this is why the Republicans have come out swinging with these negative television commercials and ads.
In the end, I think that the Democrats will gain many seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However they will fall just short of evening the numbers in both houses of Congress and in the end, the Republicans will have a one or two person advantage in both houses.