Will the Democratic leaders come from the center?

WaPo reports The complexion of the Democratic presence in Congress will change as well. Party politics will be shaped by the resurgence of "Blue Dog" Democrats, who come mainly from the South and from rural districts in the Midwest and often vote like Republicans. Top Democrats such as Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) see these middle-of-the-road lawmakers as the future of the party in a nation that leans slightly right of center.

This should be interesting. I predict a war within the Democratic party. If the extreme left gets control of the leadership and the committees, the blue dogs may split off and form a centrist party, and if the centrists get control, the extreme left wing may split off and form a new left wing party.

In private talks before the election, Emanuel and other top Democrats told their members they cannot allow the party's liberal wing to dominate the agenda next year. Democrats will hold 30 or 35 seats that went for Bush in the past, meaning that Democratic candidates such as Brad Ellsworth in rural Indiana are likely to face competitive races again in 2008. Still, their interests are likely to collide with those of veteran liberals such as Reps. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.) and John Conyers Jr., (Mich.), who will chair committees.

That depends on who the speaker is.

With that in mind, there is a chance the 110th Congress could begin on a bipartisan note. Democrats have vowed to move quickly to tighten ethics laws and require offsets for new spending -- two plans many Republicans will probably support in light of yesterday's results. Democrats also plan to push next year to raise the minimum wage, increase spending for cargo inspection at ports and reduce rates on student loans, all issues likely to draw some GOP support.

Sister Toldjah blogged Heh. And the far left blogosphere is already pitching a fit over Emanuel’s and other top Democrats’ plans to suppress their more liberal wing. I love it.

There’s no question we need to get our house in order and analyze where we went wrong, so elections like this don’t happen again. But in the meantime, the prospect of infighting between the liberalcrats and the more moderate wing should provide some much needed enterainment for months to come for those of us who are numb from last night’s resounding defeat. They may not be as united as they’d like you to think, which could bode well for Republicans - provided Republicans play their cards right, literally.