Election Fever

So the big day has been and gone - the votes are (pretty much) in and there is a pretty clear indication of what the outcome is going to be. Of course i'm talking about the mid-terms that were held over here yesterday. I'm not going too much in depth about the whys and the wherefores - i did that a week or so back if you recall - more i'm going to skim over the results and what this may mean both for America and the wider world.

Alas, this isn't yet 2008 and so we haven't got a presidential change - but i guess it's a start. Ultimately, the Democrats (opposite to George W., a republican) have regained control of the House of Representatives (one of the two houses of Congress - akin to Parliament and Lords in the UK) and, at the very least, are going to tie in the Senate. This means, essentially, that the current administration may have considerable problems in Congress when it comes to passing new laws/amendments etc. etc. Additionally, the House of Representatives are allowed to introduce legislation themselves (akin to Parliament in the UK, and MPs) that may have a better chance of passing in a Democrat-friendly house (well, if they're democrats, of course!). In the long run, this gives the Democracts two years now to come up with some good policies before the presidential election as, i think, a lot of the votes here were 'against Republican' rather than 'For Democrat'. I sincerely hope they do come up with the goods - as i think American could do with a breather from such a conservative administration. Oh, and for anyone interested the 'Marriage Amendment' - essentially defining marriage as solely between man and woman (and creating a LOT of consequences in other things - not just same-sex partnerships) passed in 5 of the 8 states with it on the ballot so far - and probably will in the other three. In a nutshell, this implies that same-sex couples, as well as non-married male/female couples, single mums etc. are lesser citizens in the states where this law is enforced and is against the Federal Constitution instead. So much for equality, eh?

UPDATE: The Democrats have now officially taken the Senate as well, so control all of Congress.