The Bad, But Not The Ugly

Well, it was bad night for the House GOP, but it wasn't awful.

-- Unlike '06, the Dem wave barely touched heavily GOP territory. Reps. Virgil Goode (R-VA 05) and Bill Sali (R-ID 01) trail and very well may lose, but most other second-tier GOP targets were left unscathed. Henry Brown (SC-01), Lee Terry (NE-02) and Mark Souder (IN-03) all staved off defeat.

-- The wave also avoided many places where Obama did very well. GOPers in suburban CDs, like Mark Kirk (R-IL 10) and Erik Paulsen (R) in MN-03, won surprisingly comfortable victories. And the GOP may eventually hold onto both of their vulnerable NJ CDs. Who would've guessed that coming into 11/4? And what about the Cuban youth vote turning Dem? It didn't appear to happen en masse last p.m., as all three GOPers were re-elected in S. FL.

-- Even so Dems finally knocked off long-time targets Chris Shays (R-CT 04), the last GOPer in the N.E. and Jon Porter (NV 03). And socially conservative candidates who fit their CDs, like Kathy Dahlkemper (D, PA-03), Steve Driehaus (D, OH 01), Harry Teague (D, NM 02) and Bobby Bright (D, AL 02) all earned pickups for Dems.

--It was a great night for Dems across the board. But given Obama's strong margins, there are surely lots of Dems wondering why it wasn't a better one.