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For the first time in 12 years, the Democrats control both houses of Congress. Come January, those who are new, and those who are not, have a chance to set right some of the terrible things that have gone wrong in our nation's legislative branch in the last several years.

Some have already promised to raise the federal minimum wage, cut taxes for the middle class, remove tax cuts for the rich and other glorious rectifications. Americans were told to pump up their hope and trust that corruption and ghastly injustices will be gone.

But January is a long way away. President Bush announced he'd use this short time to push through as much of his agenda as he can. With the holiday break coming up, he's met with his Cabinet members and Republican leaders of Congress to map out the remaining weeks.

I'm worried about this new Congress. While the afterglow of the stunning victory is just a week old, the realities of just how much will have to be done to put the country in a truly new direction will take many years. Do the new leaders understand that they still have Bush to contend with for two more years? Quick fixes may keep them alive for a year or so, but the big-ticket issues - Iraq, equal taxation, entitlement programs and health care for all - are what America wants.

To make sweeping changes, the new Congress needs the ear of the president to avoid two years of gridlock - or more, if their party doesn't come up with a ringer for the presidential elections.

I don't think Hillary Rodahm Clinton has a prayer in Hades. Condoleezza Rice has a better chance. Think about it. She's experienced in foreign affairs, has a commanding personality, knows how to get herself out of sticky situations, is single - eliminating the problem of what to call the husband of the president - and she's black. The Republicans could score quite a hit with the first black and female president.

I'm literally praying on bended knee that Gov. Bill Richardson steps up to the plate. If anyone can turn this country around and keep a level head, it's him. He's got experience in both domestic and foreign affairs, has made hard choices and kept his humanity. The state of New Mexico has benefited from his leadership. I believe Richardson would make a great president.

I wish there was a way to return our government to the real checks-and-balances system it once had. I'd take the government of the Nixon era, if I could get it. The branches of government were intact then - not the mish-mash they are now.

I hope this election is more than a so-called changing of the guard. I want a return to the country the rest of the world, and the Americans who live in it, can be proud of again.