Politics: USA: Dems squeak to 50-50 in Senate seats, still need one more to get majority, and Virginia may give it

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Toronto's Globe & Mail carries an Associated Press press report "Tester wins Montana, Virginia still in question" (Nov8,2k6 1:15 PM EST). Here's some brief excerpts:

Helena, Mont. — Republican Senator Conrad Burns lost his job in a squeaker of a race Wednesday, thrust from office due to his own gaffes, his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a determined campaign by Democrat Jon Tester, a farmer.

Mr. Tester's win gave Democrats at least half the U.S. Senate, but the party still needed a victory in a tight Virginia race to gain control.

Mr. Burns, 71, first elected in 1988 as a folksy, backslapping outsider, has been under siege because of his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and because of his own gaffes, including an incident in which he cursed at firefighters. ...

Mr. Tester, a state senator who runs an organic farm, had hammered Burns during the campaign for his ties to Mr. Abramoff and what Mr. Tester called the “culture of corruption” in Washington.

Mr. Burns was a top recipient of campaign contributions from Mr. Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to corruption charges. Mr. Burns has since returned or donated about $150,000 (U.S.), and has maintained he did nothing wrong and was never influenced by Mr. Abramoff.

The Iraq War may have brawt the Republicans down in the House and in other Senate seats, but the Tester vs. Burns campaign was run on the issue of corruption. Burns claims he personally was innocent. For the sake of the argument, giving Burns the benefit of the doubt in regard to the $150,000 contribution from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the voters responded to the attack by Tester (the new Montana Senator replacing Burns) against the Republican "culture of corruption." Everything else bracketted out of consideration, the Republicans in Congress got what they deserved for not keeping a clean House and Senate. The bums have been outed. It remains to be seen whether a new set of bums takes up in the Democratic wins (control of the House, 50-50 so far in the Senate) where the Republican bums left off.

As dangerous to the country and the world as the Democrats promise to be, there's a definite streak of justice in the overturn of the Republicans.

-- Politicarp