So who is going to win the election? Which party will win control of the Senate in November? Tell us what is going to happen?
My stock answer: I don’t know.
Or better yet, I dunno.
There are the professional pundits and experts who will be glad to render an opinion, and they do. In their columns, blogs and t.v. programs, they will boldly cast off doubt and tell us who is going to win.
The may preface their remarks with, my prediction as of today . . .
But the more sensible answer is, I don’t know.
There are too many imponderables – what is the state of the economy, who will win the presidency, who is the Republican nominee for President, who do voters blame for gridlock in Washington, D.C.
There are too many unknowns between now and November – will there be war in Iran, will gas prices sky rocket, will the Supreme Court overturn the health care bill.
Events this past week justify caution.
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe (R), rolling towards a fourth term, stunned the political world by announcing her retirement at the end of this term. A seat that Republicans knew was safe in the bank suddenly went to toss up, with Democrats having a real chance to take the seat.
And Nebraska’s former Senator Robert Kerrey (D), after initially saying he would not try for a comeback, reversed course and is running. Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D) seat will still be difficult for Democrats to hold, but the impossible became possible.
So predictions confidently made a week ago now look sadly out of date.
Democrats are looking better in the Senate and Republicans worse.
As a result, my prediction is . . . stay tuned. I dunno.
