That’s the number of Democrats in the U.S. Senate. That includes two independent Senators who caucus with the Democrats (Lieberman and Sanders).
Wow. This is historic. The Democrats gained seat number 58 last night when Democrat Mark Begich was declared the winner over long-time Republican Senator Ted Stevens. It was Stevens’ 85th birthday – a long and historic career ended by not disclosing items on the Senate’s annual financial disclosure forms. The 40 Republican Senators left are probably breathing a sigh of relief that Stevens was not re-elected, so they would not have to deal with his convictions. Stevens plans to appeal, and from what I have read, he stands a chance of winning on some of the seven convictions. That is all he can get is his name cleared. But in the end, that’s all that really matters. Now his Republican colleagues can cast him away like a piece of trash and feel OK about it.
So now the question is can the Democrats get to the magic number of 60? Some political “experts” are saying it does not matter because some moderate Republicans could be counted on to vote with the Democrats on many issues. 60 votes are important in the United States Senate to move legislation, especially if it’s controversial. In the House of Representatives, the Democrats have 255 seats to 175 for the Republicans. Five seats are undecided, according to CNN.
Two races in the Senate are yet to be decided; Georgia will have a run-off election December 2 and Minnesota will have a recount.
In Georgia, I would look for record money to be spent in the next couple of weeks. In Minnesota, look for it to be called, “the land of 10,000 lawyers” as the political parties will be sending every lawyer they can get their hands on to Minnesota to “monitor” the recount.
Political races are coming down to the wire. There’s jockeying for positions in the Obama Administration. The holidays are fast approaching. Football season is winding down. I like this time of year. God bless America!
The Western Word 
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llmt-That’s a good description of an expert. Some believe the closer you get to Washington DC, the more experts you will find – must be the water. As for Obama and former Clinton people, he earned the right to pick who he wants, but he must be careful or his term may be derailed before it starts down the tracks. Thanks for your comments. -Jack
A friend of mine used to describe an “expert” this way– An X is an unknown quantity and a spert is a water leak under pressure. I always refer back to that saying when told what’s going to happen in the political arena by a “so called expert”.I see another former Clintonian is the pick for the AG. Looks like Clinton’s third term with Obama as a figurehead. Ah yes, change we can believe in.