Economics: I thought through the entire campaign that the Democrats' focus on the economy was misplaced. First, security was clearly the prevailing issue, no matter what pundits and polls said. Second, I think America felt that the economy was doing just fine, thanks. It turns out that consumer confidence was up in November, fortuitously timed to the midterms. The market has been consistently up, and the Dow is flirting with 9000 again. As that article also mentions, this market trend coincides nicely with an uptick in consumer spending and durable goods orders, both leading indicators, and a downturn in unemployment - which was not high by historic standards anyway. All this in the face of a four day weekend, which usually scares off investors - they don't want to take major new positions just before the market takes an extended break. Are we out of the woods? Not necessarily. Anything can happen - that's life. But the Democrats' blather about the crappy "Bush economy" is proving to be simply wishful thinking.