Democrats Take The House, Senate Stands In The Balance

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By Greg Peel

Broadcaster NBC has claimed victory for the Democrats in the US House of Representatives, with the 15 seats needed to take majority of the 435-seat house apparently in the bag.

The Democrats need six seats to win control of the Senate, and have so far picked up three.

Up until today it was still a close call, although a 35% approval rating for Bush and a 57% popular wish to pull out of Iraq set the tone for a possible Democrat sweep. It would all come down to how many Americans thought enough of the situation to actually vote, and voter turn-out proved to be unusually high.

If the Democrats secure the Senate, George W. Bush becomes a “lame duck” president. If the Republicans hold the Senate, he will still be forced to negotiate with the Democrats on matters of policy.

This is bad news for the big end of town. Subsidies for the highly-profitable oil industry are now in doubt, as are ongoing lucrative military contracts. The Democrats will move to protect the minimum wage, prevent Social Security from being privatised, and move forward the Bush Administration’s baby steps towards alternative energy and other environmental considerations.

How the stock market will react is somewhat of a mystery. For the last two nights, Wall Street has surged ahead on the back of solid profit results and M&A activity. A Democrat victory was always a strong possibility. Will Wall Street take it in its stride? Or are we in for a big pullback tonight? It’s not as if this result could be a big surprise.

By the way, the Governator kept his seat.

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