he year was 1958 and the Republicans lost 48 seats in the House. The Democrats established a strong majority. This was during Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. There are similarities to the presidential situation then and now. One marked difference was the popularity and respect for Ike, by comparison to the personal disapproval ratings of President George W. Bush. We are just a week away from the mid-term congressional elections and it is very possible that the Republicans will not show up at the polling stations as they have in the past, making it possible to gain the necessary victories to make the minority party, the majority party in the House. Again, to take control they need 15 more seats. In the Senate, it is possible they will win the five seats to make it a clean sweep. President Bush's job approval rating stands at some 37%. I can't remember another occasion when a president rated so low, just prior to election, since Harry Truman.
The current USA Today/Gallup poll shows Democrats ahead of Republicans by 53% to 38%

101 of our men in uniform were killed in Iraq this month of October and several hundred seriously wounded men and women have been returned home to mend. From all we hear it appears that soon the Iraqi government will be told (or asked) to meet a schedule of specific timetables for disarming the multitude of sectarian militias. And if these so-called "benchmarks" are not met, then there may well be a further reassessment of our "strategy" there.
As well we know "Stay the course" was a presidential favorite until it wore thin and began to sound more and more absurd. They've decided not to use that expression; it's gone the way of "Mission Accomplished", "Cut and Run, (though I'll wager the White House will continue to use that on any who disagree with their losing policies). Last week's Snow job from Tony had the Presidential press secretary saying "The enemy is changing tactics and we're adapting." Watch for more and more use of "benchmarks", "milestones" and "phased withdrawal".

Here are some of the Republican members of congress and their buddies who have messed up the image of the Republican party:
Rep. Mark Foley: He resigned last month when allegations emerged that he'd sent lewd messages to at least a couple of teenage male interns. Foley apologized and there are other Republicans who are, apparently, under investigation into their handling of the Foley situation (It appears they were well aware for a long while).
Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, has hardly brought distinction to his job by the way he's handled the Foley sex scandal or, lest we forget, the far more serious allegations about what has taken place under the Hastert leadership, including a detailed investigation into his personal finances (published in the Chicago Tribune) which showed that the speaker had booked $2 million in land sales in his home state of Illinois.
There are several more embroiled in scandal, but to mention just a few:

Tom DeLay. He has resigned his congressional seat and denied any wrongdoing, but the former majority leader was indicted on money-laundering charges. They called him "The Hammer" in office. Looks like this hammer has been nailed!
Just a few days ago a man named David Safavian was sentenced to 18months for lying and obstructing justice in the Abramoff scandals. Safavian had been a former White House budget office appointee.
Jack Abramoff. He's the ring-leading lobbyist who faces between 5 and 6 years behind bars for corruption after cheating American-Indians out of several million dollars, much of which was redirected as campaign donations in exchange for altering legislation. Nice people? Try this next one and wonder if the likes of a Rush Limbaugh will defend him.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham. This Republican congressman resigned as a member of the House after admitting to taking $2.4 million in bribes, to steer defense contracts to some favored companies.
The first congressman to plead guilty to charges in connection with the Abramoff investigation is Bob Ney. He could receive ten years as a sentence. Did I mention that they are all Republicans?
And there are others.
When the Democrats take over I hope to be tougher on their scoundrels.

Have you ever known election were so many of the candidates spend less of their campaign time and finances extolling their own skills, experience, ability and worth and most of it with attack and frequently outright lies about their opponent?