What do We know about the Democrat’s Agenda?

Barack Obama won a huge and historic victory Tuesday to become the nation's
44th president. But how he governs may well be decided at the other end of
Pennsylvania Avenue, where, ironically, the swollen Democratic majority that
swept into office with him could moderate the party.

Throughout the election season, the Senate has been considered the bellwether
for Democrats' ability to push through their agenda during the next Congress. If
Democrats could claim 60 Senate seats--an outcome that is still unknown--their
majority would be filibuster-proof.

But the party's margin of victory in the House of Representatives actually

provides a better picture of what its control over government will look like.
Fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats--not just liberals from urban centers-
-and more traditional Democrats from the West and South rode the electoral
wave this time around. In Alabama, Blue Dog-endorsed candidates Parker
Griffith and Bobby Bright pulled off victories. In Arizona, Ann Kirkpatrick, who's
progressive on many issues but also supports the right to bear arms, won her
race.

"The House, in my mind, is really a reflection of how big the wave is," says Jim
Bonham, a lobbyist with Steptoe & Johnson and a former executive director of
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In all, Democrats picked up a projected 22 seats in the House to give them a

251-173 edge over the Republicans--a big move but not the 30-seat gain pundits
expected. In the Senate, where several races remain contested, Democrats
gained at least five seats, plumping their ranks to 56 (if you include two
Independents), compared with 40 Republicans.

Still, expect the bolstered party to act quickly in several areas. These include
expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance program, vetoed by President
Bush last year. Also high on the agenda: passage of the Employee Free Choice
Act, which business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce oppose on the
grounds that it grants more power to labor unions.

According to Bonham, tax policy will also be a priority, "for no other reason than
that the Bush tax cuts will be expiring."

Other items, like health care reform and establishing a revamped national energy
policy and a financial services regulatory plan, will take longer. They're
controversial and grab a ton of lobbying attention.
So will reform of the financial system. "Congress would be moving quite
expeditiously if they were to complete it by the end of 2010," says William
Donovan, an attorney with law firm Venable who has worked with congressional
committees on financial issues.

Among the changes that could be made: streamlining of banks' regulatory

structure, the implementation of capital requirements and increased powers for the
Federal Reserve. Expect Congress to move more quickly on the consumer side of
financial reform, including passing a credit card owner's "bill of rights" and
allowing bankruptcy judges to alter mortgage terms.

Dan Mica, a former Democratic congressman from Florida and now chief
executive of the Credit Union National Association, says the party in power will
tweak lobbying rules, making influence more transparent. "I could envision them
taking each policy paper that a lobbyist presents to them and putting it on the
Web" for the public to see, he says of the new Democrats in power.

Even before the next Congress arrives in January, there will be shake-ups on the
Hill. Obama will move swiftly to announce his staff and Cabinet nominees. He's
vowed to include members of both parties. He is expected to name Rep. Rahm
Emanuel as his chief of staff, possibly as early as Wednesday, a move that
would rob House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of one of her most effective
lieutenants.

In addition, there's likely to be some maneuvering among some key committee

chairmen. Donovan says it is unknown whether Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who
has been instrumental in his role as chairman of the Senate's banking committee,
will remain in his post, as he may take another committee chairmanship.

Democrats want to get to the business of governing as quickly as possible, so

look for them to move quickly in determining who chairs and sits on which
committees--a process Donovan describes as competitive and potentially
contentious.

"It's helpful to get any of that contentiousness and competitiveness behind you,"
he says. And difficult too.