At one point the Democrats thought they had real hope of getting up to 60 seats with a filibuster-proof Senate. They started the election with 49 seats plus Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman who voted with the Democrats. But with the results that we see now, the Republicans have a bit of hope of holding the Democrats to 54 seats plus Sanders and Lieberman. Amazingly, Minnesota is heading to a recount between Al Franken and Norm Coleman who are separated by less than 1000 votes. Anything can happen with a recount, so keep your fingers crossed on that one. Saxby Chambliss is right at 50% in Georgia with 99% of the vote counted. He needs to stay at 50% to avoid a recount. And in Oregon, only 74% of their precincts are reporting at this moment and Gordon Smith is holding to a very narrow lead, and it looks like it's the blue counties mostly that haven't reported in completely, so anything can happen there, but it probably doesn't look good for Smith.
And then there is Alaska. With 99% of the votes counted and the remaining ballots mail-in votes that may have come in before Stevens' conviction. It seems that the voters there decided to vote for the party and just hope that Ted Stevens will resign quickly and that they can have a new election and elect a Republican who is not a felon.
The Republicans must be heaving a sigh of relief that it wasn't quite the washout that people were thinking it might be in the Senate. And you know who is another winner with these results? Joe Lieberman. The Democrats now can't afford to kick him out of their caucus. They'll need his vote. And he'll have the opportunity to be a true independent.
But imagine that we're living in a country where a convicted felon, Ted Stevens, can be reelected and an ugly comedian like Al Franken is within 1000 votes of winning election.
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7 comments:
"But imagine that we're living in a country where a convicted felon, Ted Stevens, can be reelected and an ugly comedian like Al Franken is within 1000 votes of winning election."
Tells you something about the intelligence of the American voter, doesn't it.
But Obama's win confirmed that last night.
William Jefferson - Democrat Rep from New Orleans - won his Democrat Primary.
Sadly this is no surprise.
"Jefferson held a wide, double-digit percentage lead over Moreno with more than three-fourths of the precincts reporting.
Jefferson, who still faces a trial on bribery and money laundering charges, acknowledged Obama’s influence on voters and the fact that it probably helped him secure a win."
Good news the liberal illuminati hasn't stolen the Senate in addition to the Presidency too!
The Dems may not need 60 Democratic senators to kill a fillibuster. With McCain's bipartisanship and his gang of 14 he will be able to foil most fillibuster attempts.
Franken's (pending) defeat is the one silver lining in this otherwise dreary election cycle. I will be grateful if Franken, along with a bunch of other things, disappear down the memory hole forever now that the 2008 election has come to an end.
But imagine that we're living in a country where a convicted felon, Ted Stevens, can be reelected and an ugly comedian like Al Franken is within 1000 votes of winning election.
Say what you want about Stevens' felony (bed made lie, etc) or the oddness of a former SNL comedian's success, but to mention that Franken is "ugly" is uncalled-for and cheapens your discourse.
How would you like your students making commentary on the physical appearance of political figures in their classroom papers?
Kent,
I wasn't referring to his physical appearance, but the characteristics of his humor and entire approach to those with whom he disagrees. He's a nasty piece of work.
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