And then there were 60, including Stuart Smalley

Democrats now control two-thirds of the U.S. Senate, a super-majority that redefines American politics.

Republicans will continue to have enormous cultural power, with a 50-50 presence in the media.

But the big debates over the next eight months or so will largely occur within the Democratic caucus.

Conservative and moderate Democrats will fight to downsize the Obama-Pelosi agenda; but so far the left-of-center big tent is holding.

This also gives President Obama a pretty open horizon for making Supreme Court choices.

It is a sign of how far the GOP has fallen that their final toe-hold was pried loose by a Saturday Night Live comedian, Al Franken.

The man who gave us Stuart Smalley toppled Minnesota’s veteran Republican Senator, Norm Coleman.

For conservatives, the events of the past couple of weeks heighten to a fever pitch the importance of the 2010 mid-terms.

Those elections can only be viewed as a referendum on Barack Obama’s agenda. If Democrats prevail again, expanding their majority and solidifying their mandate, Republicans will face a truly existential crisis.

If the party’s leaders can’t stop the scandals, the in-fighting, and the ideological nastiness, building momentum (and raising money) for next year’s elections will be tough.