Thread: Senatorial Elections 2008

OK, so who's worse. Palin or Blagojevich? Pawn for a pawn, innit? At least Palin never tried to sell a senate seat, cheat a hospital out of funds, or try to get eds fired off a newspaper.

Wonder if IL will have a special election for BO's seat. Either that or get the Lt Gov to appoint someone? I really wonder if Jess Jackson Jr had no $$$ deal in the offing with Blago for the seat. They did meet for 90 minutes about it but that seems to have been hushed up pretty good.Maybe Blago will have a heart attack over Xmas dinner. Very convenient.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

OK, so who's worse. Palin or Blagojevich? Pawn for a pawn, innit? At least Palin never tried to sell a senate seat, cheat a hospital out of funds, or try to get eds fired off a newspaper.

This is not about Palin.

This is not about Blagovich.

This is about the BO's old Senate seat, and Caroline Kennedy.


The other figures are not eligible. Discussing them anymore, is plain stupid.

^ Hey, Milky, you kept running with Palin. Blago is linked coz he's in charge of appointing the new senator (if Blago doesn't get impeached first). Only other option is a special election.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Blago is linked coz he's in charge of appointing the new senator (if Blago doesn't get impeached first). Only other option is a special election.

I think a special election is the only way to be credible and legitimate.

Originally Posted by Milkman

I think a special election is the only way to be credible and legitimate.

This would be up to the Illinois State legislature but a special election certainly would not be favored by the Dems so unlikely. Why take the chance of losing a Democratic Senate seat?

^ Just heard the Reps are pushing for it; put it in with some local elections to cut the costs.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Just heard the Reps are pushing for it; put it in with some local elections to cut the costs.

Sure they are. Nothing to lose and all to gain. I don't know the balance of Dems to Republicans in the Illinois legislature but whatever it is the vote will certainly reflect party lines. Doubt either party would crossover on this one.

it's still early, but conventional wisdom has al franken winning the recount in minnesota.

Originally Posted by raycarey

it's still early, but conventional wisdom has al franken winning the recount in minnesota.

Yes read that myself. Incredibly close. Something like 50 or 60 vote difference.

^franken's campaign is saying it could be ~ 35.

amazing.

Hope there aren't more spoilt ballots. A good race. Another libbie comedian takes office then?

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Hope there aren't more spoilt ballots. A good race. Another libbie comedian takes office then?

What other comedian has been in office? At the Senate level?

^ I do agree.

How Mark Ritchie is helping Al Franken steal the election

No one in MN seems to be that interesting in watching Soros funded stooge Mark Ritchie steal the election for Al Franken. Luckily for us John Lott, Jr. is watching the Canvassing Board and what he is seeing is a clear pattern of bias against Coleman and for Franken.

Take some of the ballots that only marked the oval for Coleman, but where the oval is also marked through with an “X.” The Canvassing Board determined that those marks meant those voters intended to support “other/no one.” Here are a couple of examples, with more here.

Yet, there are a number of cases where the exact same markings for Franken were decided by the Canvassing Board to result in votes for Franken. More can be found here.


And of course any spoiled ballot should be thrown into the Franken column, right?


Well, we always wanted to be competitive with Chicago and now we have election fraud just like the windy city...

Source

Todays news about the race in Minnesota:

Norm Coleman just got a Christmas present from the Minnesota Supreme Court: A giant lump of coal.
In a unanimous decision handed down just now, the state Supremes denied Coleman any relief in a lawsuit he was waging to deal with allegations of double-counted absentee ballots, which his campaign says have given an illegitimate edge to Al Franken. The Coleman campaign was seeking to switch 25 selected precincts back to their Election Night totals, which would undo all of Franken's recount gains in those areas and put Coleman back in the lead.
The court, however, sided with the Franken camp's lawyers in saying that a question like this should be reserved for a post-recount election contest proceeding, as the proper forum to discover evidence -- and which also has a burden of proof that heavily favors the certified winner.
Simply put, Coleman is in very big trouble right now. With Al Franken leading by 47 votes, this lawsuit was Coleman's best shot at coming from behind. And it just failed, making a Franken win nearly a foregone conclusion when this recount finishes up in early January.

Link: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/minnesota_supremes_shoot_down.php

Originally Posted by Milkman

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Hope there aren't more spoilt ballots. A good race. Another libbie comedian takes office then?

What other comedian has been in office? At the Senate level?

Did I say Senate? OK, Harry Reid. But then you have Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi. Mind, Frank has a few good viewpoints.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

But then you have Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi.

I'm just postulating , but i think these are the only members of the house that jet can name.

^Name some you laugh at, grinch. All the Reps? 5555

It ain't over for Norm yet!

The Minnesota Supreme Court has entered an order per Justice Page denying Senator Coleman's petition for relief on the issue of double counting in the recount. (John Hinderaker described the double counting issue here.) The Coleman campaign believes it has identified approximately 130 double-counted absentee ballots mostly in heavily Democratic Minneapolis precincts. Rather than provide some resolution to the issue during the recount, the Minnesota Supreme Court expressly reserved the issue to an election contest of the recount.
Under applicable state law set forth in chapter 209 of the Minnesota statutes, an election contest of the recount is a judicial proceeding that occurs before a panel of three judges assigned by the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. According to the Star Tribune report of the decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court order provides that the issue of double counting would be more appropriately resolved in a judicial forum on the basis of relevant evidence rather than by local canvassing boards. An election contest gives rise to the judicial forum established under state law.
The Coleman campaign has issued a statement, which alludes in part to the timetable set by the court in another order today for the disposition of some 1,600 absentee ballots:

The decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court today virtually guarantees two things in this recount. One: it ensures that there will be an election contest because Minnesotans simply will not support an election as close as this being decided by some votes being counted twice. Two: this ensures that no certificate of election will be issued due to an election contest inevitably being filed, leaving Minnesota without two sitting United States Senators on January 6th.

As a result of the Supreme Court ruling on the issue of double counted ballots, the ballots in issue will be included in the totals rendered by the Board of Canvassers in early January. If the margin between the candidates is fewer than 130 votes, or if other substantial issues remain as a result of the treatment of the 1,600 absentee ballots, a contest is guaranteed. I take the Coleman campaign statement's slight hesitation on this point only to mean that so long as the margin is not prohibitive, a judicial contest of the recount is now inevitable.


Source

Since Caroline Kennedy potential for the Senate has been discussed on this thread, this is worth putting here. As I said before, I don't think someone should get such a powerful and influential position to the "100 club" based upon her name. She doesn't have the experience, and somehow, I feel that she thinks (or some people think that she's entitled to get the NY Senate seat handed to her because of what her father and uncles and some cousin have done politicall.

It seems to winds are moving against her. As this article suggests that are many, many other that are more qualified and able for the seat.

Sections


Say goodnight, Caroline: How JFK's daughter flubbed the audition to become the next Senator Kennedy

Updated Sunday, December 28th 2008, 1:02 PM
Warga/News Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy




In the beginning, just three long weeks ago, the idea of Caroline Kennedy being a United States senator had a certain ring to it. The Camelot myth still has shelf life and a merger with the historic Obama presidency provided an intriguing story line.
Kennedy would replace Hillary Clinton, one leading lady following another on a stage where name recognition often substitutes for merit. The narrative was tailor-made for the fever chambers of celebrity-obsessed media and the bandwagon quickly picked up speed.



Some top Democrats were certain Gov. Paterson, a close-to-the vest electorate of one, would find Kennedy irresistible now and as a running mate in two years. All others were chopped liver next to her sudden star power.



But a strange thing is happening on the way to the coronation. The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off. Fantasy is giving way to inescapable truth.
That truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn't deserve it. Somebody who loves her should tell her.



Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience, as painful to watch as it must be to endure. Because she is the only survivor of that dreamy time nearly 50 years ago, she remains an iconic figure. But in the last few days, her mini-campaign has proved she has little to offer New Yorkers except her name.



Her handlers and family enablers insist she feels no entitlement to the Senate job, yet there is no other possible reason to give it to her. Her name is the sole reason she even dares go for it. Camelot must be Gaelic for chutzpah.
New York can do better.

Link & Entire: Say goodnight, Caroline: How JFK's daughter flubbed the audition to become the next Senator Kennedy

The "you know" girl. She said "you know" 142 times in an interview about what she would do as a senator. Absolutely lame, I'm sorry to say. She would just tow the party line and grandstand her name. Definitely not what NY State needs right now.

When she first made it known that she wanted to be appointed to take over Mrs Clinton's seat, Miss Kennedy, 51, the daughter of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, seemed a near certainty for the job.
But in the course of a few weeks she has alienated Governor David Paterson of New York, who has the sole power to make the appointment, and the American press, including the elite New York Times, which is a powerful influence on Democratic officials.
During an interview with the paper she stumbled badly, fuelling comparisons to Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, whose bid for the vice-presidency was blighted by a series of disastrous interview with Katie Couric of CBS News.
Perhaps most damaging of all was her repeated use of the phrase "you know", which she uttered 142 times and was left in the transcript when it appeared in print.
Explaining why she would be a good Senator, she said: "So I think in many ways, you know, we want to have all kinds of different voices, you know, representing us, and I think what I bring to it is, you know, my experience as a mother, as a woman, as a lawyer, you know, I've been an education activist for the last six years here, and, you know, I've written seven books – two on the Constitution, two on American politics.
"So obviously, you know, we have different strengths and weaknesses."

Ya, you know. Great substance there. Palin did better.

Caroline Kennedy repeats 'you know' 142 times in interview - Telegraph

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

The "you know" girl. She said "you know" 142 times in an interview about what she would do as a senator. Absolutely lame, I'm sorry to say.

Agreed.

During an interview with the paper she stumbled badly, fuelling comparisons to Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, whose bid for the vice-presidency was blighted by a series of disastrous interview with Katie Couric of CBS News.

Explaining why she would be a good Senator, she said: "So I think in many ways, you know, we want to have all kinds of different voices, you know, representing us, and I think what I bring to it is, you know, my experience as a mother, as a woman, as a lawyer, you know, I've been an education activist for the last six years here, and, you know, I've written seven books – two on the Constitution, two on American politics.
"
Ya, you know. Great substance there. Palin did better.

Yes, the Palin comparisons are out there.

Caroline Kennedy is an embarrassment.

And using the "9/11 card" to get a Senate seat is shameless.