November 8, 2006 - An Election of “Firsts”

This election brought a number of remarkable “firsts.”

The U.S. House of Representatives will be led by the first woman speaker (Nancy Pelosi); the U.S. Senate will induct its first socialist member (Bernie Sanders); the first Muslim-American was elected to Congress (Keith Ellison from Minnesota); for the first time ever the majority of Americans voted on electronic “black box” voting machines; and here in Maryland a “third-party” candidate for a statewide race was able to participate in (most of) the debates (the Green Party’s senatorial candidate Kevin Zeese.)

But of all the “firsts” perhaps the best is that for the first time since 911, a majority of the national electorate cast their votes out of hope and not fear.

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