Day of the Donkey

The optimism is flowing faster than the drinks waiting for the guests out in the hallway here at dem hq at the Hotel Fort Des Moines in Des Moines. There are definitely smiles aplenty.

Senator Tom Harkin got some early numbers back from the East Coast. He told me it looks (not a certainty yet) that the dems could take the U.S. Senate (seems like everyone thinks they'll take the U.S. House). He says to especially watch Rhode Island and Montana (repubs have them both right now).

Harkin said he hasn't seen this type of call to push out a party since 1974 following the Watergate mess with Prez Nixon. BTW, this is the same year Harkin got voted into Congress. He said he started to feel in August that big changes could happen. He said he heard constant talk about people's unhappiness with Prez Bush, especially his handling of the war in Iraq.

Governor Tom Vilsack was just as hopeful. He's also holding out hopes that his party will take the U.S. Senate. He's feeling more and more confident that on the state level there will be a democratic trifecta, the gov's mansion and the house and senate. Lt Gov Sally Pederson seems equally as hopeful. The Gov promised a short night.