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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Matt Dulin     Chris Elliott                        Robyn Morrow                  Johnny Peña
                                      Fabian Sifuentes              Kristen Young

America: The best politics money can buy 

Every election, the country goes a little bit crazy, as if it's trying to decide which personality to use for the next couple of years. Here are our notes from our session on the couch Tuesday night.

Whose House?
With two-thirds of the votes counted in District 22, it looks like Tom DeLay's former district could fall into the hands of a Democrat: Nick Lampson. It's a story that is repeating itself in other parts of the country as well. CNN is predicting, at the time of this writing, that the Democrats will pick up the 15 seats in the House of Representatives needed to claim a new majority. 

Perry prevails, sort of
The losses are enough to make a few Republicans grumpy. Even Gov. Rick Perry may have better enjoyed his re-election, which will make him the longest-serving Texas governor, if it were not for the 60 percent of voters who did not endorse him. Good luck running the state. The Daily Cougar has always thought that of all the gubernatorial candidates, Perry had the best hair. 

His contenders put up a good fight, and we thank them for making this year's governor's race more colorful and more competitive than most. It is regretful that, for now, we'll have to keep some great headlines on the shelf. (How often is "Texas gets Kinky in office" really an option for the front page?)

Expensive proposition
More than $1 billion was spent this election season in congressional races alone, including more than $3 million by Lampson, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. The figures point to a continuing trend: That even though most congressional races end up with the re-election of an incumbent, they are becoming increasingly expensive. In 2004, the average House candidate spent $1 million to get or keep a seat; $7 million was spent in an average Senate campaign.

You mean we haven't found a better use for this money?