For the first time in 16 years, Democrats control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. So while its hard to remember a time when optimism among the party faithful has ever been this high, a few voices of caution can still be heard.

Thats because looking ahead to the 2010 election, the greatest fear of some Democrats  and the greatest hope of some Republicans  is that it will turn out to be another 1994.

As a result, a few Democrats are urging their colleagues to remember their history, beware of overconfidence and study the lessons embodied in former Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Texas).

Brooks was a 21-term Member who was chairman of the Judiciary Committee during the 1994 election cycle. He would have been dean of the House had he returned to Congress in 1995, but Steve Stockman (R) had other ideas.

Stockman should have had no chance of winning his race against the fearsome, cigar-chomping Democrat who had been in the House for four decades  he had already lost to him in 1990 and 1992. But Brooks became a symbol of the excesses of Democratic rule during the 103rd Congress.