New York Sen. Charles Schumer must be feeling pretty giddy these days. As head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the New York Democrat may be on the verge of delivering a filibuster-proof majority for his party with potential pick-ups in such formerly reliably red states as Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi. But now he's gone even further predicting that his party's presidential candidate Barack Obama would capture the White House with more than 300 electoral college votes. That's huge.

That's 30 more than Obama needs to win. By contrast, George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004 in the electoral college by 284 to 251. I am not sure whether any president has won the White House by such a large margin. But even by the standards of political hyperbole, this is a pretty grandiose claim. What's more amazing is that Schumer's Republican counterpart, John Ensign of Nevada, more or less agreed with him.

Speaking at the same National Press Club event as Schumer, Ensign said, "I don't think that there's any question that it's a tough election atmosphere for Republicans." The Republican went on to say that it's "possible" that the Democrats would win 60 seats. Faint praise for Republican candidate John McCain indeed.

Remarks like that probably send shivers up the spines of economic conservatives. The Wall Street Journal has warned about the dangers of the Democrats gaining control over the White House and the legislative branch. I don't think the world is coming to an end but I agree that concentrating too much power in the hands of one party may not be a good thing.

The growing power of the Democrats will play an important role in shaping major legislation such as the second economic stimulus package and any assistance to homeowners hurt by the housing crisis. We are entering uncharted and potentially dangerous waters.