The National Journal‘s Chuck Todd describes five ways in which the 2006 elections are similar to the 1994 elections, and five ways in which they are different.

One big difference that he doesn’t mention is that with just a few weeks to go before the election, Democrats still haven’t offered anything akin to the “Contract With America.” The closest they’ve gotten is the “New Direction For America,” but that’s not much of a revolutionary governing agenda rooted in a clear ideology, it’s more of a laundry list of liberal pet causes: raising the minimum wage, cutting college costs, making health care more affordable, etc. However, it still could be enough, because another difference between the two elections is that in 1994, Republicans needed to gain 40 seats to take control of Congress (they ended up gaining 52), but this year Democrats only need 15.