Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson, has won the South Dakota senate race by 524 votes. His opponent, Republican Rep. John Thune, will not seek a recount.

Bill Moyers today on Republican Politics, Then and Now:

For the first time in the memory of anyone alive, the entire federal government -- the Congress, the Executive, the Judiciary -- is united behind a right-wing agenda for which George W. Bush believes he now has a mandate.

That mandate includes the power of the state to force pregnant women to give up control over their own lives.

It includes using the taxing power to transfer wealth from working people to the rich.

It includes giving corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment and control the regulatory agencies meant to hold them accountable. And it includes secrecy on a scale you cannot imagine. Above all, it means judges with a political agenda appointed for life. If you liked the Supreme Court that put George W. Bush in the White House, you will swoon over what's coming."

Moyers doesn't offer any solutions, but we'd do well to pay attention to the headlights flashing at us.

Eric over at The Hamster lives in Hawaii and offers his thoughts on the newly elected Governor Linda Lingle, including this:

"What makes me think she'll be moderate is her past record and her knowledge of Hawaii. She knows Hawaii is a Democratic state and will never be a Republican stronghold so she'll concede a lot to Democratic positions in order to make ground (she did that when she was mayor of Maui), so I don't foresee a huge difference in governing. Lingle's election isn't a black eye at all for the Hawaii Democratic Party since they already had two black eyes going into the election."

And a big thanks to Eric who in the same post linked to TalkLeft and referred to us as "the Left's leading legal blog."

We've been reading and linking to Hamster every day since it was a news service in its pre-blog days and are very glad, but not surprised, to see it has become such a leading progressive voice.

Instapundit updates our Rave post yesterday with news that a Judge in Traverse City, Michigan is on leave after being observed smoking a joint at a Rolling Stones concert.

This is a good illustration of why, overwhelmingly, it is pro-prosecution, pro-law enforcement type lawyers who apply to be judges.

So many defense lawyers are loathe to put themselves under the glare of the public spotlight. This is not to say that all defense lawyers smoke or have smoked pot. Just that they are more likely to have lived a part of their life on the edge, and don't need the aggravation or humiliation of having it come to the public's attention.

It is beyond shameful that this country can't progress to a point where suitability for public office, including judgeships, is determined upon the basis of knowledge and skills, combined with a desire to contribute to the public good, rather than personal moral traits and actions that are so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

The San Francisco Chronicle endorses Nancy Pelosi for House Democratic Leader because she has the courage to be different:

"Democrats must not be afraid to make the case against a rush to war, ill- advised tax cuts, assaults on the environment or other Bush initiatives that many centrist Americans might oppose -- if the president's policies were exposed to full and vigorous debate. Nancy Pelosi the right leader for this critical challenge."

The political rumor of the day for Arkansas in 2004, received from an unaffiliated Arkansas Voter:

"Watch for Asa Hutchinson to maybe run for the Senate in '04 against Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln. His brother apparently may be considered inelectable because he trailed the Republican Governor by 10%+ in heavily Republican counties while losing big in Democratic south and east Arkansas, showing what some called the "hypocrisy factor" (running on "family values" vs. divorcing his wife of 29 years and marrying his intern (and maybe the impeachment vote all the while, but we're not sure)) cost him dearly with moderates Republicans. Attorney General Pryor is also a religious sort, and he apparently picked up the fallout."

"Governor Huckabee was just reelected to a 4 year term. When Lt. Gov. Huckabee became governor in '7/96 because of the Governor's resignation, he had two tractor trailer loads of "Huckabee for Senate" signs he paid $350K for that had just arrived in Arkansas. [The history: He resigned the Republican Senate nomination to be Governor until the '98 election (which he won). The Republican Party had a convention, and T. Hutchinson resigned his House nomination (as an incumbent) to run for the Senate, which he won. A. Hutchinson was then nominated for the House seat, which he won. He resigned from that to be head of the DEA. That seat has been in Republican hands for over 40 years.]"

"Maybe Huckabee still has the signs, and he has a free shot at Lincoln in '04. The Republican Party will have to decide between Asa and Huckabee. It will be a tough race for Lincoln, I'm afraid."

Imagine the head of the DEA being in the U.S. Senate from 2005-2011 when Bush gets re-elected, since the Democrats can't come up with a viable candidate to beat him"

The list of potential democratic candidates for President in 2004 so far includes: (from Reuters)

"At the core of the Democratic field over the last six months has been Gore, the narrow loser of the 2000 race after a five-week recount in Florida. Gephardt has been mentioned, along with Daschle; Dean, and Democratic Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina."

"Dean is the only one who has definitely said he is in the race, although Kerry is certain to run as well. Other potential candidates include Gary Hart and Bill Bradley, both former senators and failed presidential candidates, and veteran Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware."

"Gore's decision, due by the end of the year, will be the first step toward shaking out the field. If Gore gets in, his name recognition would make him an instant frontrunner and he could knock out his 2000 vice presidential running mate, Lieberman, who has promised not to run against Gore."

We hardly ever agree with Dick Morris, but we liked this quote from his commentary today over at NRO (which we found over at Vodkapundit):

"Bush will likely win the war on terror. But he'll win it in 2003. What will he do for 2004? By then, he'll have run out of countries. Bush has no real domestic agenda beyond his tax cuts which are already part of the law and unlikely — especially now — to be repealed. All the other issues, apart from terror, work in the favor of the Democrats. The Wall Street scandals, global warming, environmental pollution, health care for the elderly, and Social Security are all Democratic issues. Bill Clinton's legacy is that he solved the major Republican concerns — crime and welfare."

"Without issues, Bush may not be able to control the dialogue as 2004 approaches. He will run Washington for the next two years as the Democrats lick their wounds. But he may have a tough road in 2004."

Stephen at Vodkapundit thinks Morris is underestimating Bush. We sure hope not.

Read what Al Gore has to say on Tuesday night's Democratic losses. He sat down with 20/20's Barbara Walters to talk about it. Here is a large segment of the interview which will air on 20/20 Nov. 15.

Also check out Hamster on what to do next after yesterday's defeat at the polls.

Also, Rittenhouse on what went wrong and who's to blame.

Dick Gephardt, House Democratic Leader, announced today he will not seek another term in that position. We're glad. He should never have crossed sides to support the war. Part of the blame for yesterday's disasterous election results lies at his feet--add Daschle to the list as well--we hope this means he won't seek the nomination for presidency in 2004.

We're behind Nancy Pelosi for leader of the dems in the house.

From NORML:

Disappointing Election Results Provide Opportunity For Self Assessment

Washington, DC: Yesterday's defeat of a trio of marijuana reform initiatives in Arizona, Nevada and South Dakota mark a temporary setback, but also offer an opportunity for self assessment, NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said today. All three initiatives targeted separate aspects of marijuana law reform.

• ARIZONA

Arizona's proposal, which won only 43 percent of the vote, would have
replaced criminal penalties on minor marijuana offenses with a civil fine, and mandated the state to distribute medical marijuana free to qualified patients.

• NEVADA

Question 9 in Nevada, which won only 39 percent of the vote, sought to
eliminate all penalties on the possession of three ounces or less of marijuana, and mandated state officials to implement a system whereby adults could obtain pot through a legally regulated market.

• SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota's Initiative 1, which gained a reported 38 percent of the vote (with 769 of 844 precincts counted), sought to establish a state-licensing system so that farmers could legally grow the non-psychoactive variety of cannabis known as hemp.

Local marijuana reform initiatives fared much better in yesterday's
election.

• SAN FRANCISCO

In San Francisco, nearly 7 out of 10 voters approved Proposition S, which encourages the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to enact legislation authorizing the cultivation and distribution of medicinal pot by city officials.

• MASSACHUSETTS

In Massachusetts, voters in 19 State House districts approved non-binding resolutions instructing their state representative to vote in favor of making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. Voters in Massachusetts' 14th Worchester District also endorsed a non-binding resolution supporting the use of medical marijuana, and voters in the state's 2nd Franklin District endorsed a proposal to legalize hemp cultivation.

Broader statewide drug reform initiatives also yielded disappointing results.

• OHIO and ARIZONA

An Ohio initiative (Initiative 1) mandating treatment rather than incarceration for non-violent drug offenders gained only 33 percent of the vote, and an Arizona proposal (Prop. 302) re-instituting probation and incarceration for some non-violent drug offenders passed with 69 percent of the vote.

• WASHINGTON DC

A Washington DC proposal (Initiative 62) mandating alternative sentencing for some drug offenders did pass overwhelmingly, but must still be approved by Congress.

NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said there are many lessons drug-law reformers can learn from yesterday's outcome, and stressed the need for follow-up polling in Arizona and Nevada to better determine why a majority of citizens voted against these proposals. "Certainly, the political climate of this year's election was decidedly conservative, as evidence by the gains made by Republicans in both the House and Senate and the defeat of several other liberal, but non-drug reform initiatives around the country," he said.

"Specific to marijuana-law reform, however, it appears clear that although a majority of the public supports the legalization of medical marijuana as well as the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, much of the U.S. public remains skeptical of broader-reaching proposals - particularly those that mandate the state to become involved in either the distribution or regulation of pot. Drug law reformers also need to do a better job countering some of our opponents concerns, such as the issue of marijuana and driving as well as the rising use of marijuana by adolescents, as it is clear that much of
the voting public also shares these anxieties."

Nevertheless, despite yesterday's defeats, Stroup's outlook for the marijuana law reform movement remains optimistic. "Yesterday's losses represent a temporary setback, but it's one we know we can and will overcome. The American public stands solidly against our government's policy of arresting and jailing responsible adult marijuana smokers, and we will continue to make gains on this core issue."

As usual, Atrios goes straight to the heart of the reality:

"My post election wrap up is that the Democrats believed they shouldn't make this a national election. They were wrong. Gephardt should go, and probably Daschle as well. Here comes the flat tax! Here comes GOP uterus control!"

To that we can only add, here come more prisons, more detentions, more unfair treatment of non-citizens, more death penalty support and less tolerance all around.

And check out Jeff Cooper today.