By Donald H. Harrison

San Diego, Nov. 10 ¾ The familiar voice, calling from Oregon, posed an interesting morning-after-the-election question.

“Of all the results, which one do you think pleased me the most?”

 “Lieberman?”

 “Bingo,” said Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, formerly of Congregation Beth Am in San Diego.

Perhaps the Democratic Party voters of Connecticut had rejected U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman in their primary, but enough Democrats, Republicans and independents combined to reelect him to a fourth term, as an independent.

Now that Democratic challenger James Webb has been confirmed as the winner in Virginia race over incumbent Republican George Allen, Democratic control of the U.S. Senate ironically depends upon Lieberman casting his votes with the Democrats in caucus. And, Lieberman will, because he is a lot more loyal to the Democrats than they were to him. But a lot of Lieberman’s colleagues who campaigned in Connecticut on behalf of the party’s official nominee, Ned Lamont, will have some fence-mending to do. At the very least, let’s hope Lieberman receives an important committee chairmanship such as the Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee.

Lieberman will be one of 13 Jews in the 100-member U.S. Senate — up from 11 in the last session. The new members are Bernie Sanders, the longtime independent congressman from Vermont, who like Lieberman votes with Democrats, and Ben Cardin, a Democrat who currently holds a congressional seat from Maryland.

With Democrats having won the House of Representatives, there will be a lot of new committee chairmen in the 110^th Congress — among them our own area’s U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, who is expected to become chairman of the House Committee on Veteran Affairs.

Other Jews headed for committee chairmanships are two congressmen from the Los Angeles area, Henry Waxman and Howard Berman, who are expected to be tapped respectively as chairs of the House Government Reform Committee and the House Ethics Committee. Tom Lantos of San Mateo is expected to head the International Relations Committee. Barney Frank, the congressman from Massachusetts, is expected to be named head of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees banking and related industries. Because the new House Speaker, San Francisco Bay Area Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi — the first woman to hold the job — has longtime philosophical differences with Jane Harman (D-Palos Verdes Estate), the latter, though in line by reason of seniority, is expected to be passed over for the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee.

With Jews taking new positions in the Congress, and with a new Jewish governor, Eliot Spitzer, elected in New York, there was plenty of good news for our community to celebrate.

Although the election was a clear Democratic victory — and, many believe, a stern rebuke to President George W. Bush for the conduct of the War in Iraq — there nevertheless were Republicans who found reason for optimism. With Democrats in control of the House and perhaps even the Senate in the two years leading up to the 2008 presidential election, there will likely be plenty of blame to go around. Instead of blaming Republicans for whatever problems the nation is facing, as the electorate clearly did this year, voters may be inclined to blame Democrats as well as Republicans next time. That could enhance Republican dreams of holding onto the White House.

So, one expects, did the sacking of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld the day after the election by President Bush. The President’s explanation that he and Rumsfeld believed the “time was right” to make a change gives Bush the opportunity to reposition himself on the conduct of the war, and try to win voter (and historians’) forgiveness as the clock runs out on his administration.

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To turn to local San Diego affairs, I personally hope that Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) in his new capacity as chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee might conduct hearings on exactly what kind of memorial might best honor veterans on Mount Soledad. My hope is that such hearings might fuel a campaign to build on top of Mount Soledad a large heroic sculpture honoring all veterans, not just those who happened to be Christians.

 It would be a bold move for Filner, who voted in the House earlier this year against the measure put through by San Diego’s Republican delegation to “save the cross” by transferring Mount Soledad to federal jurisdiction so that litigation over the separation of church and state issue might escape the tough mandates of the California State Constitution.

It was disheartening to see, in Escondido, that two council candidates prevailed who favored that city’s discriminatory ordinance prohibiting landlords from renting to people who are not in the United States legally. Also subject to a court challenge, that ordinance is likely to result in landlords refusing to rent to people who are foreign-born, especially Mexicans, whether or not they are citizens. I believe the Jewish community, which has known the sting of discriminatory housing laws aimed against us, should stand shoulder to shoulder with the Mexican-American community in opposing this measure.

There is one election result that I am so happy about, I have saved it for the last thing to mention in this column…No more annoying political commercials on television — at least for awhile!