The whole media flop and twist spasms about a grand Dem takeover reveals quite a bit, actually. As does the increasingly shrill war between the Dem establishment and Howard Dean's 50-State strategy. The way I parse this (analysis is my hobby) is:
1. The Dem establishment got together with the 'Pug establishment to divvy up some seats, so it would look like Dems came really close to taking the House, but not quite. The Senate was never on the table.
*This explains the "Heckuva job Rummy" charade, when Bush had actually already contracted Gates to take over upon the release of the Baker Group study. He was going to Stay the Course through the election, then say Dem gains in the House indicated people wanted a new direction, at which point Rummy's out and Gates was in. It was supposed to look like "statemanship," but all it really did was swing a lot more votes from angry citizens.
[Follow me below the fold for items 2 through 6...]
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