I was watching the Winter Olympics last weekend and saw one of the most terrific blunders in the history of sports. If snowboarding were as popular as baseball, football or basketball, what happened in the women's snowboard cross at Torino would go down in history alongside Bill Buckner and Leon Lett.
With only a very short distance to go, the United States' Lindsey Jacobellis had what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. She looked back as she was traveling down the mountain and could not even see another racer - each of the other three boarders had fallen earlier in the race.
All she had to do was cautiously finish the race to win the first ever gold medal in her event. But she decided against that.
On the last jump of the run, she decided to do what seemed like a little bit of showing off for the worldwide audience by grabbing her board and doing what the NBC announcer called a "method." Instead of landing the trick, she fell just yards away from the finish line and one of the other boarders coasted to the gold medal.
Jacobellis was showing off and lost because of it. Leading the race, she had some reason to be cocky and began to count on her almost assured victory. However, nothing is ever certain. This is as true in the political world as it is in sports. Upsets and disappointment can occur without warning - just ask President George W. Bush what happened to all of that "political capital" he was planning on spending after his re-election.
Just as the president was riding the wave of winning the re-election and Republicans gaining a stranglehold on Congress, he crashed. He now has the distinction of holding the worst second-term approval ratings of any president not named Richard Nixon. Who would have thought that political news of the past year would be dominated by the names of Terri Schiavo, Harriet Miers, Jack Abramoff and Katrina?
The Democrats are seeing their opening and hope to capitalize on widespread Republican corruption and the growing desire for change in this country.
History is on their side, in reference to the well-known "six-year itch," in which the president's party almost always loses congressional seats in the sixth year of his term.
Aside from history, there is also a widespread distrust of the Republican-run Congress. A January NBC and Wall Street Journal poll gave Congress an approval rating of negative 27 percent; a Pew survey showed that a whopping 81 percent of Americans say corruption and accepting bribes are "common behavior" in Congress.
Every independent analysis I've seen has predicted at least some Democratic gain in November, but most say it is still a long shot for them to regain control of either chamber of Congress because of a lack of competitive races. However, some Democrats seem to be treating these analyses as a sure sign of upcoming victory. Before they start fighting over committee gavels, Democrats need to realize the midterm elections are still more than eight months away, which amounts to a lifetime in the political world - go ahead and ask President Bush how his past eight months have been.
Like Jacobellis during the snowboard cross competition, Democrats are looking behind them and seeing Republicans in disarray. I, for one, certainly hope that unlike Jacobellis, Democrats stay focused and finish the job.
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