The center holds

Stop the world I want to get off! My my...these days I feel like I'm not so much watching the wheels as I'm stuck in the spokes.

So American voters showed the Republicans the door this week, awarding the Democrats with majorities in the House and Senate. Well, it serves the GOP right, in my arrogant, conservative Democratic opinion. This year's elections weren't just about Iraq. The war might have undone Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, but Joe Lieberman's easy victory in Connecticut over wuss Ned Lamont trumps any far-leftist notion that Americans across the board have grown weak in the knees in the war against radical Islamists. And make no mistake about it: there’s no separating Iraq from that war. Say what you will about our reasons for going in; today that's all simply irrelevant, because Iraq is now the central front in the major ideological struggle of the 21st century.

Don’t take my word for it. This is what some guy named al-Muhajir said on behalf of al-Qaida in Iraq last week after the elections and the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: "The al-Qaida army has 12,000 fighters in Iraq, and they have vowed to die for God's sake. We will not rest from our Jihad until we are under the olive trees of Rumieh and we have blown up the filthiest house — which is called the White House."

I hope Nancy Pelosi is listening.

This year’s election wasn’t a referendum on the war so much as it was a reaction by the American public to the culture of corruption and pork that has thrived on the Republicans' watch. The outcome was a much-needed correction, and one not without precedent in the history of second-term American presidencies. Democracy is alive and well in the USA. Is this a great country, or what?

Now if the Democrats get smart and move away from the far-leftist old guard of Kennedy, Dean, Rangel, et al, they just might start bringing back to the fold the likes of others like me who believe in the “party of the little guy” but don’t expect – or want – a free lunch from Washington. Get aggressive in dealing with the biggest threat to our national security since the Nazis. Work to level the playing field so small businesses have a better chance of competing. Respect our faith, ban late-term abortions, pass the president’s immigration proposal, and let us keep our guns, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be rewarded with the White House – in 2012. Obama-rama, anyone?

As for 2008, today I think it’s McCain’s race to lose.

End note:

I’m no longer living in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. These days I'm 7 months and 25 miles from the city, living in a perfectly serene little Hudson River enclave that has exploded into fall color. Perfect strangers say "good morning" to me as I walk my dog in the predawn chill. Sunlight floods my freshly painted home office, and the long, winding and bucolic bicycle trails around here are nothing short of fantastic. Do I miss the Big Town? You bet I do.

New readers: to learn a little more about me, click here.

Joe Bones is back on the block. Look for twice-weekly dispatches Thursdays and Sundays.