LOTTOMIKE's Blog

anyone got pointers on how to break out of doing the same old routine or bad habits that we sometimes repeat over and over even though its bad for us and we don't need to but we do it anyway.

example--as far as myself after i work all night i get in and turn the internet on and crack open a cold coke and start reading and listening to music instead of laying down and going to sleep.

tennessee titans defeated the philly eagles and knocked donovan mcnabb out for the season.watch out in 2007 for the tennessee titans and vince young.they have spent a couple years rebuilding but next year will be our year.the salary cap purge has been completed and we will be contenders once again.we got to the super bowl in 2000 and its time to make it back and get a win....

i'm finally bouncing back little by little.trying to get used to working and not winning anything online.its hard.very hard but i'll make it.i think todd is right and the new law won't change things much but i'm going to sit back a while and see how it all pans out.when the first of the year hits i'm going to start posting predictions and joining the mega and powerball challenges again.i have gotten plenty of messages wondering why i quit.just had to sit back and take stock of some things.was burnt out and depressed for a while but i'm making my way back.i'm feeling good about things and i know things are going to turn out right.

Though he has yet to declare that he will run, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani  building a national network of donors who would raise money for a White House candidacy, according to the finance chairman of his New York State exploratory committee.

Mr. Giuliani met at a Midtown restaurant on Wednesday with a group of about 30 supporters from around the country who discussed how they would organize fund-raising for a presidential run, said Roy W. Bailey, the finance chairman of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee Inc.

“Their commitment is to go out and help us build as strong a finance organization as we can build,” Mr. Bailey, a founding partner of Mr. Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, said yesterday. “They’ll do that in their respective geographical areas.”

Among those who attended were Thomas O. Hicks, owner of the Texas Rangers; Mel M. Immergut, chairman of the New York law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy; Patrick C. Oxford, managing partner at the Houston law firm Mr. Giuliani joined last year, now known as Bracewell & Giuliani; William E. Simon Jr., an investor who ran for governor of California in 2002; and Barry D. Wynn, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. T. Boone Pickens, a Texas billionaire with oil and gas investments, took part through a conference call, Mr. Bailey said.

Several of the supporters, including Mr. Hicks and Mr. Wynn, were major contributors to President Bush’s re-election effort in 2004.

Mr. Immergut said he did not have doubts about Mr. Giuliani’s interest in the race. “If he wasn’t really interested, he wouldn’t be spending the time of all the people that are already gathered around him and the amount of time that he’s been spending crisscrossing the country to test the waters.”

In discussing the meeting, the supporters appeared to want to demonstrate that Mr. Giuliani had the connections and appeal to mount a campaign that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In interviews, several of them said the former mayor had discussed his potential liabilities in a Republican primary — perhaps the greatest being his liberal views on social issues like abortion and gay rights.

“Certainly one of the first questions that was asked was how his views on things like gun control and pro-choice and gay marriage would affect the views of the party in terms of nominating him,” Mr. Immergut said.

“He talked specifically about what his views on those issues were, and he said that his own view was that when he was able to engage in conversations with party members who were more on the right, they could understand that his views were not as black and white as they had been painted.”

Mr. Immergut added, “He said that for many important issues, his views would be right in sync with the huge majority of Republicans.”

Mr. Wynn, who owns a trust and asset management company, said: “I’ve talked to a lot of very conservative voters in South Carolina — I think I’m one of them — and I think we’re interested in the position the country is in right now and around the world. I think leadership and national security are going to be the overriding issues. People who may disagree with him on other issues will accept that disagreement and support him.”

Referring to last week’s midterm elections, in which Republicans lost control of Congress, Mr. Wynn said, “I think what the election showed us is that we need fresh ideas and leadership from outside of Washington.”

Mr. Simon, whose father was treasury secretary in the Nixon and Ford administrations, worked under Mr. Giuliani from 1985 to 1988, when he was the United States attorney in Manhattan. “I would support Rudy Giuliani for president 100 percent: financially, intellectually and emotionally,” he said.

Aron Pilhofer contributed reporting for The New York Times.

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton observed, "Our lives are a mixture of different roles. Most of us are doing the best we can to find whatever the right balance is . . . For me, that balance is family, work, and service."

Hillary Diane Rodham, Dorothy and Hugh Rodham's first child, was born on October 26, 1947. Two brothers, Hugh and Tony, soon followed. Hillary's childhood in Park Ridge, Illinois, was happy and disciplined. She loved sports and her church, and was a member of the National Honor Society, and a student leader. Her parents encouraged her to study hard and to pursue any career that interested her.

As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed academic excellence with school government. Speaking at graduation, she said, "The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible." In 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action, interned with children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton. The President often recalls how they met in the library when she strode up to him and said, "If you're going to keep staring at me, I might as well introduce myself." The two were soon inseparable--partners in moot court, political campaigns, and matters of the heart. After graduation, Hillary advised the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge and joined the impeachment inquiry staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. After completing those responsibilities, she "followed her heart to Arkansas," where Bill had begun his political career. They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, and Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born in 1980. Hillary served as Arkansas's First Lady for 12 years, balancing family, law, and public service. She chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal Services, and the Children's Defense Fund. As the nation's First Lady, Hillary continued to balance public service with private life. Her active role began in 1993 when the President asked her to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. She continued to be a leading advocate for expanding health insurance coverage, ensuring children are properly immunized, and raising public awareness of health issues. She wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled "Talking It Over," which focused on her experiences as First Lady and her observations of women, children, and families she has met around the world. Her 1996 book It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us was a best seller, and she received a Grammy Award for her recording of it. As First Lady, her public involvement with many activities sometimes led to controversy. Undeterred by critics, Hillary won many admirers for her staunch support for women around the world and her commitment to children's issues. She was elected United States Senator from New York on November 7, 2000. She is the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

A handful of congressional races aren't quite over yet, but the jockeying for the 2008 presidential contest - going on for months, if not years - has burst fully into the open. For the Republicans, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York, have registered committees and signaled they're probably in. By all indications, outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is in.

For the Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has money and organization - and just bowed out of a party leadership position, another sign she may be in. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois says he's pondering a run, possibly positioning himself as the un-Hillary. Outgoing Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is definitely in. Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards has shown all the signs.

But as of now, two years minus a few days until America elects its next president, the front-runners for major-party nomination remain Senators McCain and Clinton. Whether either will ultimately occupy the Oval Office is anyone's guess.

"Here's what's interesting: Both parties have reservations about their presumptive nominees," says Cal Jillson, a political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

With Clinton, some Democrats remain concerned that she can easily win the nomination by deploying her formidable political team and fundraising ability, but can't win the general election because of her high negatives. Analysts warn against reading too much into presidential horse-race polls at this stage, since much is based just on name recognition. But for Clinton, who is already known nearly universally to the American public from her years as first lady and now as a senator, the visceral negative reaction she sparks in some voters is cause for concern.

The latest Gallup poll, taken Nov. 9-12, puts her favorability at 53 percent and unfavorable rating at 42 percent. In the same poll, McCain scored at 54 percent favorable and 23 percent unfavorable.

Clinton suffers from some voters' memories of her aborted effort to reform healthcare during her husband's administration, her implication in some White House scandals, and her image as a calculating centrist on issues such as the Iraq war.

The coming elevation of the first woman to be House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) of California, could have some bearing on the public's attitude about making Clinton the first female president.

"If Pelosi does a really good job holding the Democrats together, and giving them something they can run with in 2008, that will certainly demonstrate to some people that a woman is tough enough to take on the Republicans," says Linda Fowler, a political scientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.

For McCain, the 2006 midterms brought good news and bad news. His own party took a drubbing at the hands of voters, principally in a repudiation of both President Bush and the Iraq war. McCain is now well-positioned to enhance his image as a maverick, triangulating between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the lame-duck Bush White House. But his steadfast support for the unpopular Iraq war and continued calls for more troops in Iraq, not fewer, put him at odds with the American public on the No. 1 issue of the day.

"McCain has got to pray that Iraq goes away as a major issue in '08, otherwise he's got some difficulties," says Mr. Jillson.

McCain also faces the challenge of wooing social conservatives, who were skeptical of him in his 2000 presidential campaign, while not alienating moderate Republicans and independents.

Another hurdle for McCain could be his age. On inauguration day 2009, he will be 72, and if elected, would be the oldest person ever to become US president. But if he can remain healthy and energetic, the age issue could fade.

Below McCain and Clinton sit a small group of men vying to be their principal opponents in the primaries and caucuses, which begin in just 14 months. The announcement this week by ex-Mayor Giuliani that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee in New York State provides the first clue - beyond making speeches in key states - that he might actually run. The latest Gallup poll named him as the top choice for the GOP nomination among Republicans and independents who lean Republican, beating McCain by 2 points, 28 percent to 26 percent. But as a liberal on social issues, many analysts believe he cannot win the nomination.

That's why Governor Romney is getting so much attention. Some midterm defeats have cleared the way for Romney to position himself as the alternative to McCain among the GOP's conservative base. Romney was mentioned by only 5 percent of GOP voters as their top pick, but the race is young, and most voters have not tuned in yet. One question for Romney is how his Mormon faith will affect GOP voters' perceptions of him. But he already has built strong lists of supporters in early nominating states Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire - in addition to Michigan, where his father was governor - and won notice for charisma.

On the Democratic side, the decision by former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner not to run has left an opening for the "anti-Hillary" spot. If Senator Obama decides to run, he could shoot into that position - but, analysts say, he has to decide soon, as the money and campaign talent are quickly being grabbed by others.

The first-term Illinois senator is currently riding a wave of "Obama-mania," following the publication of his second memoir and a book tour that has highlighted his appeal as a fresh face on the political scene - and his opposition to the Iraq war from the beginning, a key contrast with Clinton. The Gallup poll placed him second to Clinton among Democrats and Democratic leaners for the nomination, 31 percent to 19 percent.

The question is whether voters believe he has enough political experience to begin a credible run for president after just two years in the Senate. As a black man, he also faces the race question.

Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, he said he was still thinking of running, but acknowledged the challenge of his identity.

"Whether it's an African-American candidate, a woman candidate running, if it's a nontraditional candidate, there is another threshold you have to meet," he said. "I think you have to show people competence in a way that, if you're a white male, you may not have to show initially."

By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Close to the worst thing that could have happened to the internet gambling community occurred with the deceitful passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The bill was signed into law by President Bush on October 13 and several big name UK companies instantly lost the majority of their income.

The democratic take over of the House and Senate may be the best thing that could have happened to the internet gambling community since the UIGEA passed. Especially considering the particular Democrats who took seats from Republicans.

Sen. Harry Reid, a moderate Nevada Democrat and former casino regulator, was elected by colleagues on Tuesday as U.S. Senate majority leader for the 110th Congress that will convene in January. "He probably knows our industry better than anyone," said Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American Gambling Association pushing for an extensive study for the push to legalize online gambling.

The new Republican leader in the Senate is expected to be Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a state that homes land based casinos.

Sen. Trent Lott, a Republican from Mississippi, is angling for the job of assistant minority leader in the Senate. Mississippi is another state that houses land based casinos.

In the House there will also be major changes which may benefit the internet gambling community.

Rep. Jon Conyers is expected to head the Judiciary Committee, he is from Detroit and Fahrenkopf says Conyers has seen the benefit of casinos on the economy first hand.

Fahrenkopf also notes that Bennie Thompson, expected to chair Homeland Security, is from Tunica, Mississippi.

And, according to Fahrenkopf, Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, who is expected to chair the Financial Services Committee, has a libertarian approach to gambling and does not believe that the U.S. should be telling people how to spend their money.

"We think it might be time to see if there is a way to regulate and control online gaming," Fahrenkopf said. The American Gambling Association is expected to decide in December on whether to pursue legislation calling for an independent study of online gambling.

November 15, 2006
Posted By Susan Torres
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com   

what do you do when you just cannot sleep?  i work all night and get in tired and before you know it the sun comes out and i get a second wind.been getting by with four hours or so of sleep lately.between worrying about my bills,babies,work,etc. i am also hard of hearing but i can lay down and hear something clear on the other side of where i live.don't want to start taking any sleep medication because i have an addictive personality.whenever i do something i'm usually pretty good at doing it and getting hooked on sleep meds might not be a good idea.any remedy or suggestion is more than welcome.....

Islam is a religion that totally is bad. I don't see any redeaming value in it at all. This is a religion that is based on violence and holy wars. They are a religion based on murder and terrorism. Any claim to the contrary is bull .

The word "assassin" comes from the Muslim faith. They use their children for bombs. The use their wives and sisters for bombs. They murder each other. Women are stoned to death for being raped. They teach their children to die as martyrs in their schools. Many countries don't allow women to read or drive cars. They are slaves and have no rights under the rules of the religion.

Perhaps we need not bomb Iran ’s nuclear plants at all--just target the cowardly leaders and let the freed Iranian people join the civilized world once again.  I suspect then, a free Iran would have no need for a nuclear bomb and little use for the chains of Islam that has choked the life out of them since 1979.

i did this after floridian suggested a search on women and the quran and boy was i shocked!!

1. It's OK to have sex with your wives on the night of the fast. 2:187

    

2. Menstruation is a sickness. Don't have sex with menstruating women. 2:222

    

3. Have sex with your women whenever and as often as you like. 2:223

    

4. Women have rights that are similar to men, but men are "a degree above them." 2:228

    

5. A woman is worth one-half a man. 2:282

    

6. Marry of the women two, or three, or four. 4:3

    

7. Males are to inherit twice that of females. 4:11

    

8. Lewd women are to be confined to their houses until death. 4:15

    

9. You may not forcibly inherit women, unless they flagrantly lewd. 4:19

    

10. Instructions for exchanging wives 4:20

     

11. You can't have married women, unless they are captives. 4:24

     

12. Men are in charge of women, because Allah made men to be better than women. Refuse to have sex with women from whom you fear rebellion, and scourge them. 4:34

     

13. Don't pray if you are drunk, dirty, or have touched a woman lately. 4:43

     

14. Women are feeble and are unable to devise a plan. 4:98

     

15. They invoke in his (Allah's) stead only females. 4:117

     

16. A man cannot treat his wives fairly. 4:129

     

17. "Unto the male is the equivalent share of two females." 4:176

     

18. When it's time to pray and you have just used the toilet or touched a woman, be sure to wash up. If you can't find any water, just rub some dirt on yourself. 5:6

     

19. Lot offers his daughters to a mob of angel rapers. 11:78

     

20. Lot offers his daughters to a mob of angel rapers. 15:71

     

21. When the doom of Allah comes, pregnant women will suffer miscarriages, nursing mothers with forget their babies. 22:1-2

     

22. You don't have to be modest around your wives or your slave girls "that your right hand possess." 23:6

     

23. If you accuse an honorable women of adultery, be sure to bring four witness. Otherwise you will receive 80 lashes. 24:4

     

24. A husband can accuse his wife of adultery with only one witness. 24:6

     

25. Believing women must lower their gaze and be modest, cover themselves with veils, and not reveal themselves except to their husbands, relatives, children, and slaves. 24:31

     

26. If Muhammad's wives are good, Allah will give them "an immense reward." 33:28-29

     

27. The wives of Muhammad will be punished double for lewdness. (And that is easy for Allah.) 33:30

     

28. The wives of Muhammad are not like other women. They must not leave their houses. 33:32-33

     

29. When Allah or Muhammad decide that a man and a woman should marry, they must marry. 33:36

     

30. Allah gave Zeyd to Muhammad in marriage. This was so that all Muslims would know that it's OK to marry your adopted son's ex-wife. 33:37

     

31. Allah says it is lawful for Muhammad to marry any women he wants. 33:50-51

     

32. If men must speak to Muhammad's wives they must speak from behind a curtain. And no one must ever marry one of his wives. 33:53

     

33. But it's OK for Muhammad's wives to talk with certain people. 33:55

     

34. Women must cover themselves when in public. 33:59

     

35. Those who "did wrong" will go to hell, and their wives will go to hell with them (no matter how they behaved). 37:22-23

     

36. But the single-minded slaves of Allah will enjoy a Garden filled with lovely-eyed virgins. 37:40-48

     

37. Female companions await those who enter the Gardens of Eden on the Day of Reckoning. 38:52

     

38. Allah will reward faithful Muslims after they die with "fair ones with wide, lovely eyes." 44:54

     

39. Allah will reward those in the Garden with beautiful wives with wide, lovely eyes. 52:20

     

40. Those who disbelieve in the afterlife give female names to angels. 53:27

     

41. Allah will give those in the Garden women of modest gaze whom neither man nor jinn have touched before them. 55:56

     

42. Allah will reward believing men with "fair ones" (beautiful women) in heaven. 55:71-72

     

43. Those in the Garden will be attended by immortal youths with wide, lovely eyes. 56:17-23

     

44. Allah made virgins to be lovers and friends to those on his right hand. 56:36-37

     

45. Your wives and children are your enemies. They are to you only a temptation. 64:14-15

     

46. Instructions for divorcing your wives. 65:1-6

     

47. Muhammad's wives need to be careful. If they criticize their husband, Allah will replace them with better ones. 66:5

     

48. The wives of Noah and Lot (who were both righteous) betrayed their husbands and are now in the Fire. 66:10

     

49. Doom is about to fall on all disbelievers. Only worshippers (Muslims) and those who preserve their chastity (except with their wives and slave girls) will be spared from "the fires of hell" that are "eagar to roast." 70:1-30

     

50. You don't have to be chaste around your wives or your slave girls. 70:29-30

     

51. Abu Lahab will die and be plunged in flaming Fire. His wife will have on her neck a halter of palm fiber. 111:1-5

so what direction do you think george bush will take in his last two years in office?

Even before the votes were counted, the 2006 election set off a sweeping critique of what went wrong both within the Republican Party and among groups that once backed it.

On Capitol Hill, the power struggle to lead the new Republican minority is already under way. On Wednesday, Speaker Dennis Hastert announced he will not to seek the minority leader post in the next Congress.

Those with close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff - or who knew about disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley's e-mails to pages and failed to act - need not apply. Lawmakers are awaiting the results of a bipartisan ethics investigation on a possible coverup in the page scandal, which could produce more openings in GOP leadership.

But GOP self-critics say that the bad environment - scandals, war, the economy, or the president - doesn't account for this historic GOP defeat. The need, they say, is to get back to the principles that won them their majority in 1994.

Call it a bridge to the insurgent past. While the Republican Class of '94 campaigned to balance federal budgets, the GOP in power has racked up massive deficits. The party that campaigned to limit the size of government instead vastly expanded it. And the party that railed against entitlements created the biggest expansion of one, the 2003 Medicare prescription drug program, in a generation.

"We did not just lost our majority, we lost our way," said Rep. Mike Pence (R) of Indiana, one of 25 Republicans who voted against the prescription drug plan. He also chairs the conservative Republican Study Group, the largest group in the caucus.

"While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the greatest scandal in Washington, D.C., is runaway federal spending," he added in a statement within hours of the historic defeat. Mr. Pence sat out the fight in January to replace Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas as majority leader, but he is now widely seen as a top contender. On Wednesday he announced his candidacy for the top GOP post. "Only by making a dramatic turn in the direction of the Republican Revolution can we hope to attain majority status," he wrote in a letter to his GOP colleagues.

In a separate statement, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R) of Texas, who has drawn fire from fellow Republicans for his outspoken opposition to members' pork projects, called for a "return to Republican principles by renewing our commitment to limited government, individual empowerment, a strong national defense and traditional American values."

Along the same lines, the current GOP majority leader, Rep. John Boehner (R) of Ohio, called on the GOP to "recommit ourselves to the principles that brought us to the majority and renew our drive for smaller, more accountable government."

At stake in the next leadership fight is whether the GOP continues as a party of big conservative government or returns to its ideological roots in the Goldwater and Reagan eras, say libertarian critics.

"This is all a debate leading up to 2008, which is when we really get to make our decisions: Are we going to continue to follow the George W. Bush path of big government conservatism or the path of Reagan, Goldwater, and - to some extent - Newt Gingrich," says Ryan Sager, author of the recent book, "The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party."

Libertarians say the GOP's commitment to a social agenda that bans gay marriage and limits government funding for embryonic stem-cell research also contributed to its defeat this week. If there are new leadership elections, the party's conservative base is "going to be looking to clean house," and wipe away remnants of a leadership machine that "presided over the explosion of earmarks and petty corruption and worse," says Mr. Sager.

Meanwhile, business groups that work with the current GOP leadership are prospecting new ties with the incoming Democratic majority. One thing that Republicans and their critics are missing in the postelection analysis is that "this Congress, though well-intentioned, did not achieve a lot of legislative progress," says Jay Timmons, of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Of the many agenda items left incomplete at the end of the 109th Congress, those that most concern the business community include a permanent extension of the estate tax, renewal of research-and-development tax credits, and plans to bring down the high cost of oil and natural gas by increasing the domestic supply.

"They still have time to do this in the lame duck session," he adds.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 9) - Democrats completed an improbable double-barreled election sweep of Congress on Wednesday, taking control of the Senate with a victory in Virginia as they padded their day-old majority in the House

"The days of the do-nothing Congress are over," declared Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, in line to become majority leader. "In Iraq and here at home, Americans have made clear they are tired of the failures of the last six years." 

Jim Webb's victory over Sen. George Allen in Virginia assured Democrats of 51 seats when the Senate convenes in January. That marked a gain of six in midterm elections in which the war in Iraq and President Bush were major issues. 

While the rest of the US will be discussing the Democratic victories that secured a House majority and a potential Senate majority, most online poker players will be discussing a single victory; the one that unseated 30 year incumbent Republican Jim Leach. Leach was the sponsor of the House bill that became the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. With his stated goals of "protecting American families" and addressing a "national security concern," Leach introduced HR 4411. In a 51% to 49% victory, political science professor Dave Loebsack defeated the longtime Republican Congressman from Iowa.

  the legislative world, Leach was considered one of the four horsemen of the online gaming apocalypse. Riding with his other anti-online gambling proponents, Senator Bill Frist, Congressman Bob Goodlatte, and Senator Jon Kyl, Leach was considered the most vulnerable for re-election.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist tried a number of ploys to sneak HR 4411 into "must pass" legislation. After failing to tie it into a Defense Department bill authorizing military operations, Frist was finally successful tagging it onto the Safe Ports bill.

Bill Frist chose not to run this year. Many speculated he had planned the respite to launch his 2008 presidential bid. It was believed that Frist's actions on HR 4411 were specifically orchestrated to cater to the small, but powerful, conservative right. Interpreting yesterday's election results, however, Frist may have ingratiated himself with a political niche that will have diminished influence in securing a 2008 presidency.

Republican Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte was almost assured his victory this year as he ran without a Democratic opponent. Goodlatte was the sponsor of HR 4777, the Internet Gaming Prohibition Act and joined forces with Leach to spearhead the passage of HR 4411. "I have been continuously committed to putting an end to gambling on the Internet," Goodlatte said. "For too long our children have been placed in harm's way as online gambling has been permitted to flourish into a $12 billion industry. The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act brings the current ban against interstate gambling up to speed with the development of new technology."

When HR 4411 passed in the House, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl said, "For more than a decade, I have fought for legislation to enforce Internet gambling prohibitions. Today's action in the House is a very encouraging step, and I will work with my colleagues to explore all ways to move this much-needed legislation through the Senate this year." Kyl was good to his word. Kyle's re-election bid was almost never in jeopardy this year as he consistently led his opponent Jim Pederson in the polls; sometimes by more than eighteen percentage points. Kyl was re-elected by a margin of 53% to 44%.

While Leach may have been the most vulnerable of the anti-online gaming contingent, his defeat was still considered something of an upset. Although the race was tight, Leach never trailed his opponent in the polls prior to the election. Some of the Republicans facing defeat this morning are those that can blame their strong conservative ties to the Bush administration. Leach, however, was perceived to be a moderate Republican, positioning himself as pro-choice and voting against the 2003 Bush tax cuts and the Iraq war resolution. One has to wonder if the online gaming vote helped edge Leach onto the rail.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 8) - Nancy Pelosi spearheaded the Democratic takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, positioning herself to become the first woman to lead the chamber -- and President George W. Bush's worst political nightmare.

House Democratic leader since 2003, the California liberal framed the elections as a referendum on Bush, his unpopular Iraq war and the scandal-rocked, Republican-led House.

"Today the American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction," Pelosi told a victory rally. "That's exactly what we intend to do.

"Mr. President, we need a new direction in Iraq," Pelosi said. "Let us work together to find a solution."

Pelosi, 66, appears certain to be elected House speaker by fellow Democrats when the new 110th Congress convenes in January, replacing Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican.

Under U.S. law, the speaker is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president.

Pelosi has said she will not try to end U.S. funding of the Iraq war but will pressure Bush to shift course, begin a phased redeployment of U.S. troops and require Iraqis to take greater responsibility for their own nation.

Pelosi was often ignored or even mocked by Bush during his first six years in office but the Republican president would have to work with her once she takes the gavel if he expects to get much done in his final two years.

Pelosi has promised to challenge Bush on a host of fronts, from the Iraq war and his tax cuts to education and health care.

"The only way to deal with Bush is as a co-equal branch of government," Pelosi told Reuters last month. "He's in denial."

Pelosi has rejected calls to attempt to impeach Bush and drive him from office. But she has said Democrats would hold congressional oversight hearings, which could include such matters as whether he manipulated the facts to build early support for the Iraq war.

CONGRESSIONAL CLEANUP

With a majority in the House, Democrats would chair all House committees, set the legislative agenda and have subpoena power in their investigations.

Pelosi has vowed to clean up how Congress does business in wake of influence-peddling scandals and an Internet sex scandal involving a former Republican congressman.

"Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House and a new speaker to restore civility," Pelosi said.

Pelosi learned politics as a child a half-century ago from her father, who was mayor of Baltimore. She first ran for Congress in 1987 from her adopted hometown of San Francisco, where she raised five children with her businessman husband and served as state party chairwoman.

Republicans made Pelosi a top target in the congressional campaign, airing TV ads that attacked her in a number of states. They portrayed her as an out-of-control liberal who would increase taxes, roll back the war on terror and oppose conservative efforts to ban gay marriage and abortion.

Ethan Siegal of the Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks Congress for institutional investors, said, "Nobody really knows how she would fare as House speaker."

As minority leader, Pelosi effectively kept House Democrats united against a number of Republican initiatives in the past year or so, Siegal said.

"But she'd have her hands full as speaker," Siegal said.

Bush took a swipe at Pelosi at a recent White House news conference. He quoted her as saying, "I love tax cuts" while nonetheless voting against many of them.

Pelosi fired back: "Democrats have long fought for middle-income tax cuts. This is in stark contrast to the Republican tax breaks for the super rich that have led to a budget that is grossly out of balance and a national debt that is morally indefensible."

Democrats have dubbed their agenda "A new direction for America." It includes raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, ending tax giveaways to big oil companies and implementing proposals by the 9/11 commission to secure ports and borders.

are you a democrat or republican in your political views?