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But then I opened my morning newspaper and saw the "M" word.
And like a character in one of those Saturday morning cartoons, my head exploded and I raced to the computer to write about - you guessed it - last week's elections.
The "M" word in question was mandate.
The story was about how Democrats across the nation had a "mandate" for change. It was said that the people have spoken and that the Democrats had a "mandate" to push their agenda.
With the risk of sounding like sour grapes, last week's election was not a "mandate."
It was about the war in Iraq.
It was really that simple.
And unfortunately for Republicans, that four-letter word - Iraq, is why the Democrats were able take over the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate as well as a handful of governor races and state seats.
The GOP had its party crashed by the Democrats on election night. The Dems did a great job and have learned from their most successful leader, Bill Clinton, that to win in this country, you better be in the center when it comes to politics.
And that goes for the left and the right.
So that's what the successful candidates - Joe Sestak on the Main Line and Jim Webb on the national scene, did during their campaigns.
And while moving to the center was a smart move, many of the races still went down to the wire.
One of the most amazing things about the election night was the number of 51-49 and 52-48 races that took place. And that counts for even the few Republican victories.
And it all comes back to that four-letter word - Iraq.
While I still have no problem with President Bush removing Saddam Hussein (I've been checking the TV Guide for the pay-per-view of his execution), Bush's stubbornness when it comes to admitting that things are not going well cost his party control.
There would have been nothing wrong if he started drawing up an exit plan and hinted that maybe we could bring home some troops while leaving advisors there to help with the new government.
His mistakes were the main reason he no longer has the House and Senate on his side.
Instead, he has the San Francisco Lib (Nancy Pelosi) as the Speaker of the House and other Democrats lining up to take shots at him.
I tried to give the Democrats credit in last week's editorial but to my surprise, a few Democrats e-mailed me and told me what I could do with my congratulations.
So I don't plan on going there again.
I just want them to know that last week's results came down to one issue.
It's wasn't a mandate.
Tom Murray is Managing Editor of Main Line Life. He can be reached at tmurray@mainlinelife.com.
