But never mind that. There are facts and then there is reality. Never let the facts get in the way of reality. That the religious right is filled with zealots pushing America towards Armageddon is reality. Everyone with any sense knows that.

And this is precisely what Stewart's clan of young followers believe. Fox is biased. That is reality. But when asked whether the CBS is also biased? Blank stares.

The grand irony of ironies in Stewart's election night coverage was the appearance of Dan Rather as a guest. When Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly appeared on The Daily Show the audience booed. Stewart grilled O'Reilly with hard ball questions. With Dan Rather he joked around.

Nothing was mentioned of the use of fake documents to attack the Bush Administration by CBS News or of Rather's continued defense of the forgeries. It's not funny if it doesn't reinforce the liberal worldview.

But even if college students are enamored with all things Jon Stewart, even if there really is a cult of The Daily Show, and even if it is fairly clear that the faux news has a rather extreme partisan Democratic and liberal bias, how does this relate to the election?

The 2006 election saw the youth vote at its largest in 20 years. While younger Americans continue to vote in smaller numbers than older Americans, 2 million more voted in this election than in that last midterm.

And that vote is becoming more Democratic. According to the bipartisan Goeas-Lake exit polls, Democrats bested Republicans among 18 - 29 year olds by a 50 - 35 percent margin.

In nationally pivotal races, it was the young voter who put Democratic candidates over the top. Exit polls indicate that in Pennsylvania 68% of those under 30 voted for the Democrat over the Jon Stewart maligned Rick Santorum. Much higher than any other age group.

In the overwhelmingly Republican state of Montana, where the race was decided by less than 3,000 votes (at last count), 56% of young people voted for the Democratic challenger over the scandal tainted incumbent. The incumbent, Burns, had once argued that President Bush had a secret plan to win the war in Iraq. John Stewart joked that a vote for the challenging Democrat was a vote for blowing President Bush's super-secret plan for Iraq.

Exit polls cannot show that Stewart and the left-leaning faux news phenomenon directly caused these gaps among youth voters. But neither could they show that there was a direct relationship between Rush Limbaugh and the elections of 1994. Yet, we all knew that somehow this new media of nationally syndicated right-leaning talk radio had made a difference. So too has the faux news phenomenon affected this election.

So, while pundits are busy pointing their collective fingers at the ineptness of the Republicans and good recruiting skills on part of the Democrats, we cannot leave Jon Stewart out of the equation. Yes the left-leaning bloggers and netroots helped, but by in-large they are also The Daily Show watchers and under 30. Far more young people watch The Daily Show than read The Daily Kos.

Sure a lot went wrong for the Republicans and a lot went right for the Democrats, but part of what went wrong for the Republicans was the perception among the young--especially among college students--reinforced by The Daily Show of an empirical reality at odds with the majority party's policies.

Just like the dittoheads before them, the cult of Jon Stewart--and increasingly of the faux news of Stephen Colbert's spin off Colbert Report--are energized by their association with like minded people. The lone viewer is now part of a group. It's much easier to voice your opinion when someone is there to reinforce it.

And just like those early dittoheads, the faux newsies are feeling the power that comes when a group first emerges and gains victory in the game of power politics. As a college student and dittohead during the 1994 election, I can tell you how elated I felt for the Gingrich Revolution. I shared that elation by tuning into the Rush Limbaugh program. And that elation spilled over into the halls of my alma mater.

Today in the halls of the college where I teach there is also elation. Among the politically active students there are visible and emotional signs that somehow they won this election. For some odd reason they feel that I should also be happy about the Democratic victory. That somehow all those who are educated must have voted for the Democrats.

The pundit they quote about what the elections mean in a wider context? Jon Stewart.

Jon Stewart, this is your election. Faux news, you are the new black.

And while the presumed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed his gratitude to the netroots by posting an Election Day diary at the The Daily Kos, he should have been paying homage to the real man responsible for his new office: Jon Stewart.

Jon Stewart, the Democratic majority kingmaker. Expect Nancy Pelosi to name him an honorary member of the 110th Congress. He certainly deserves it.