The Timesbrings analysis from CQ of the ideological bent of Dem House freshmen.

Of the 40 freshmen, it says,

there will be at least 20 moderates: 15 are expected to become members of the pro-business New Democrat Coalition, nine will likely join the anti-deficit Blue Dog Coalition -- and four will probably join both groups.

The Democratic freshmen also will include seven new members of the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Of course, this isn't evidence that can help prove or disprove the CW that the election swung the Dems to the right.

But it's worthy of a footnote, I thought.

There's more...

Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for...

A further indication from an apparently nonpartisan source that strife between (very broadly) the mods and the lefties in the Dem House party after its expected win may have already gathered a deal of momentum.

From one of the few bits of the Congressional Quarterly site that is outside the pay wall, Jeff Stein (National Security Editor, no less) takes on the dispute over whether Harman or Hastings should get the HIC chair.

There's more...

My first piece on Saturday exploring the key votes identified by our Chris earlier in the year suggested that the numbers might be worth mining.

Further work has indeed brought up one or two things of interest.

The purpose, be it said, of these inquiries is not mere academic interest: if, as we all expect, the Dems take control of the 110th House, a key factor in their success - and their chances of extending their franchise - will be how much solidarity the Dem leadership can command on key votes.

There's more...

Given the imminence of the expected Dem win in the House, I thought I'd take another look at the way in which the various groups of Dem reps cast their votes in the key votes which Chris identified back in April in his 'Building a Real House Majority' piece - which formed the basis of my first look at the way minorities in the Dem House party regularly sided with the GOP on key votes, sometimes to the extent of being the difference between bills passing or not.

In the light of recent controversy over the way a Dem-controlled 110th, I thought I'd see what clues the performance of the Dems in the 109th might provide.

So I've been doing a fair bit of spreadsheeting - which, unfortunately, I have no place to put online right now!

Spreadsheets need to be shuffled and cut a fair bit to yield their goodness; but first indications are interesting.

There's more...

There's been fair amount of imaginative talk (as here, for instance) based on the Chuck Todd morning line on the Dem leadership-to-be.

Let's leave aside the clearly delusional notion that, under his Scenario II, a narrow Dem House win, the netroots will step forth to champion a Rahmbo bid for the Speakership. (That he put forward the notion might be thought to invalidate everything else he says. But, like I said...)

Shorn of the netroots nonsense, Todd's offering is this:

Will, say, 220 House Democrats stay united and elect Pelosi speaker, or will enough conservative House Democrats break and elect a compromise Democrat as speaker? Even the threat of Democrats peeling off and working in collaboration with the Republicans to do so might be enough to encourage a serious challenge to Pelosi inside the Democratic caucus.

There's more...