Rich Galen writes that November could be a long year:

I think it is very likely that we will not know whether Republicans or Democrats will organize the House until the vote for Speaker is taken sometime in the early afternoon of January 3, 2007.

As of today, the last three people this side of the planet formerly known as Pluto who think the GOP will maintain control of the Congress are Karl Rove, Mary Matalin and me.

Let us assume that one side or the other ends up with a three seat margin: The GOP holds its losses to 12 seats; or the Dems pick up 18 seats.

That assumes that every one of the 435 individual elections produce clear winners on election night.

Ain't gonna happen.

There will be a minimum of four and perhaps as many as 8 or 9 recounts. And because so much is at stake, every close election will be fought to the fourth corner of the last hanging chad of the final contested ballot.

In 1984 the recount of the election to determine a winner in southwest Indiana went well past the opening of Congress in 1985. Some years later, a recount in which I was involved, just west of St. Louis, went until just days before Christmas.

It is very possible that the number of recounts will exceed the margin either party has as we move through November and into December.

But wait! There's more!