While the Democratic Party has been a weak opposition force since the 2000 election controversy that ushered President Bush into power, the change likely will stop the Bush agenda from moving forward. It likely will end the career of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Plus, it will begin an investigation process into this administration's handling of the Iraq war.

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato told The Washington Post on Oct. 24 that "the only question is whether it will be medium-sized wave or a high wave for the Democrats." In the same article, called "Wave of Change Expected on Election Day," Indiana State University professors Stan Buchanan and Carl Klarner predicted that Democrats will win 22 House seats. This would place them in control of the House by six seats. Experts across the board are predicting that voters are looking to throw out today's incompetent and corrupt incumbents.

After the election, the pressing issue will be whether the American people can push career as well as newly-minted politicians into investigating recent controversies and wrongs of the last six years. If not, politicians will do nothing.

The first casualty of a Democrat-controlled U.S. House must be the resignation of current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, whose mishandling of the U.S. Iraq war has cost thousands of American lives, and has sacrificed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. Numerous press reports have now established Rumsfeld as a egomaniacal, self-deluded monster. His neo-conservative Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon was a prime engine for creating the false and faulty intelligence that led to the Iraq war. He also is responsible for creating the failed, wishful-thinking Iraq war plan. In addition, Rumsfeld as well as Vice President Dick Cheney are both guilty of not planning for the post-war rehabilitation of Iraq they talked about so often.

According to the Oct. 17, 2006 PBS Frontline documentary on Iraq, "The Lost Year in Iraq," Rumsfeld repeatedly refused to raise troop levels during the first year in Iraq. He also acted more concerned about his control of the war than acheiving actual results, according to Frontline. Rumsfeld must not only resign for the good of the country and humanity, but this administration's handling of the Iraq war must be investigated. If administration officials committed crimes or crafted deception, we must have justice.

A Democratic takeover of the House luckily would catapult fierce administration critic Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to head of the House Judiciary Committee. As head of the Judiciary Committee, Conyers will be able to investigate all these issues with legal subpoena power and Congressional institutional power. He can lead his committee to begin impeachment proceedings for administration officials, including for the President and Vice-President of the United States. There is good evidence he will investigate.

Conyers has been a fierce critic of the validity of both the 2000 and 2004 elections. His report on the 2004 election in Ohio--the state that gave Bush the presidency--details election irregularities which have not been addressed or rebutted to this day. Titled "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio," Conyers' report also raises questions about the reliability of electronic voting machines, and notes the inability of outside experts to check vote counts. The report also details, precinct by precinct, the efforts of the Ohio state Republican Party to suppress the 2004 Democratic vote. Their tactics echo what the Florida Republican party did in Florida in 2000.

In terms of electronic voting, today many e-voting machines do not have paper receipts. As a result, elections in polling places across the county are unverifiable for recounts by outside experts. Only technicians have access to voting data. This e-voting crisis remains true for the upcoming Nov. 2006 elections, including in Maryland.

Conyers' staff recently released a finalized report concerning the Iraq war that summarizes his investigation of both pre-war intelligence and post-war information management by the Bush Administration. It is titled: "The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War, and Illegal Domestic Surveillance." As head of the judiciary committee, Conyers will be able to investigate these issues, and he is a great asset to Americans looking for substantive change.

From liberals to conservatives, from the left to the right, people are beginning to see the Bush administration as fundamentally flawed and even fraudulent. In fact, if the 2006 elections do not offer a sea change, it will be hard to believe they are untampered and legitimate.

Electing a Democratic Congress is a good first step on the road to a better America. Nov. 7, 2006 offers the best chance to halt and reverse the attack on civil liberties, the war-mongering, and the assault on Iraq we have seen for the last five years.

FOR MORE INFO:
Conyers Report on 2004 Election:
www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf

Conyers Report on Iraq War and Pre-War Information and Conduct:
www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/iraqrept2.html

Frontline Video--highly recommended:
1) To watch the video: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/view/
2) To read about it: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq

Wash Post Articles on the Election:
1) Funding Constrains Democrats. Oct. 18, 2006.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701544.html
2) Wave of Change Expected on Election Day. Oct. 24, 2006.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301074.html