Late Friday afternoon, when I boarded a plane at Dulles, House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston had just announced a challenge to House Speaker Newt Gingrich for the post of speaker in the next Congress. By the time I landed in Denver, Gingrich was gone and Livingston already had one challenger. So much for things quieting down after the election.
First, an immodest word about predictions. Critics are having a field day bashing punditry, lumping all into the same mix as having completely "missed this election." But let's see just how this pundit missed the election. Two days before the election, on NBC's "Meet the Press," the panel was asked about eight specific, hotly contested Senate contests. Both Stuart Rothenberg and I predicted correctly the outcomes of the California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington races. Both of us missed Wisconsin, which ended up in a 50-49 percent win for incumbent Sen. Russell Feingold, and both picked Republican Rep. John Ensign in Nevada, who going into a Monday recount of 16,000 Washoe County ballots was behind incumbent Sen.
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