2014 in Review: November

November... the month of elections, rivalry football, Turkey, retail sales, and the first cold weather. This was a tough November for many of my teams and causes, but not for me. For me, it was a professional highlight, as I was field director for Bonnie Watson Coleman's successful Congressional race in NJ-12, and also ran that region for Senator Booker's campaign too. It was a successful night for only me though, as otherwise the ball fell the wrong way for many of my causes.

Here's the stories:

• The 2014 mid-term elections took an ugly turn for the worse and Republicans won huge gains in both houses of Congress, seizing complete control for the first time since 2006. Mitch McConnell was not only re-elected, but became Majority Leader. Democrats were wiped out of marginal districts everywhere.
• After hosting President Barack Obama for his final rally of 2014, Tom Wolf made Tom Corbett the first incumbent governor of Pennsylvania in modern history to lose re-election. Governor-elect Wolf did not pull his party across with him though, as Democrats gained no seats in Congress and lost seats in the legislature.
• Senator Booker was re-elected, Bonnie Watson Coleman became the first African-American Congresswoman in New Jersey history, and Donald Norcross became a second new Democratic Congressman in New Jersey races.
• Pennsylvania legislative Republicans elected new leaders in both houses despite gains, while the Democrats did not follow suit after losses.
• Pope Francis "re-assigned" the top American in the Vatican, Cardinal Burke, after he was insubordinate. I cheered this.
• The Lehigh County GOP actually discussed censoring State Senator and now appropriations chairman Pat Browne. What imbeciles.
• Man landed on a comet for the first time.
• The U.S. and China signed a historic climate change curbing agreement.
• MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber made a fool of himself.
• Former Congresswoman for Warren County, Marge Roukema, died.
• I went to my one Penn State game this year, at home with Temple.
• Moravian lost to Muhlenberg.
• The Keystone XL Pipeline was voted down in the Senate.
• President Obama signed an executive order to allow five million or so undocumented immigrants to stay in America for now.
• Lafayette defeated Lehigh in the 150th meeting of the two schools, at Yankee Stadium.
• Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, MO police was cleared of shooting and killing Michael Brown, setting off protests in both St. Louis County, and nationally.
• Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stepped down from the cabinet.
• The Easton-Phillipsburg game's 108th edition was nonsensically postponed off of Thanksgiving, then played on Saturday in worse weather (it was freezing). Phillipsburg stunned the 12-1 Red Rovers, 19-15.