Democrats look to sustain majority after anti-GOP « Thread Started on Nov 12, 2006, 10:58am » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Democrats look to sustain majority after anti-GOP wavePOSTED: 0601 GMT (1401 HKT), November 12, 2006 read at source> http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11 ... WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's the question Democrats would rather not ask in their moment of revelry: Are their new majorities in the House and Senate sustainable?What if the war in Iraq is over by 2008? Or what if it is still being waged despite Democratic pledges to change the course? What if voter antipathy toward President Bush is irrelevant in two years? After all, he will be on his way out."Who knows whether these things are long-term trends or not," Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said last week. Voters gave Democrats control of Congress but did not undergo an ideological conversion. The Democrats' success had more to do with anger toward President Bush, weariness over the war and contempt for the corruption and scandal in Congress -- a confluence of negatives that became a political force.As some Democrats begin looking to 2008 and beyond, the challenge is how to turn antipathy toward Republicans into affection for Democrats."You can't count on that kind of a wave in every election by any means," Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said.Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the chairman of the Senate Democratic campaign committee, acknowledged that the Democrats' 51-49 majority in the Senate was the result of the narrowest of victories in six race. "Had 10,000 votes flipped we would have four seats, not six," he said.Democrats do see opportunities ahead.