State of the Nation?

Somewhat lost in all of the Misstate of the Disunion soapbox are the results of a special election held in Loudoun County, Virginia yesterday. Democrat Mark Herring easily defeated Republican Mick Staton for a state senate seat in a heavily Republican area. It remains to be seen what this means on a national level, but it is something to keep in mind as we plunge toward November.

UPDATE: Let me add a reason it might matter, for those of you who think it does not. (Courtesy of the Bulldog Manifesto):

Section 603 of the United States House Rules provides for the inception of impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives “by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State.”

Section 603 states, inter alia:

”Inception of impeachment proceedings in the House.>> House of Representatives there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate (II, 1303; III, 2342, 2400, 2469; VI, 525, 526, 528, 535, 536); by charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination (III, 2364, 2491, 2494, 2496, 2499, 2515; VI, 543); or by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee (Apr. 15, 1970, p. 11941-42; Oct. 23, 1973, p. 34873); by a message from the President (III, 2294, 2319; VI, 498); by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469) or Territory (III, 2487) or from a grand jury (III, 2488); or from facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House (III, 2399, 2444).”

If state legislatures could change hands, we may have an interesting 2007.