Thread: Senatorial Elections 2008

Begich (D) now ahead of Stevens (R) by 814 votes



Link: http://firedoglake.com/2008/11/12/begich-now-ahead-of-toobz-stevens-by-814

If Begish (D) beat Stevens, this will keep Palin from going after Steven's Senate seat (if he were to win, and then resign). Good.

but she could run for the seat...and hasn't ruled it out.
but at this point it looks like that thief stevens won't be going back to washington anyway.

More good news!

Published: November 14th, 2008 04:32 PM
Last Modified: November 14th, 2008 04:33 PM


Mark Begich has extended his lead over Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to 1,022 votes with the latest count of absentee and questioned ballots. The Elections Division counted 14,508 ballots today. The count of absentee and questioned ballots will pick up Tuesday. The state has an estimated 24,000 more ballots left to count in the race.

Rest of the story:http://www.adn.com/front/story/589416.html

Thanks for the update, Landreth, but erm, could you use regular font like everyone else? Your posts look like preschool stuff. Thanks.

latest good news:

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Begich Will Be Alaska's First U.S. Senate Democrat Since Gravel


Democrat Mark Begich will win the Alaska Senate race.

Congratulations, Senator Begich.


rest of the story:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/begich-will-be-alaskas-first-us-senate.html

^^ good for the people of alaska... i don't know the first thing about begich, but at least they didn't re-elect an 84 year old convicted felon.

Interesting to see these challenged ballots, from Minnesota. I like the write in vote for “Lizard People” ballot.

Link: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2008/11/19_challenged_ballots/

A glimmer of hope from a math/statistic’s nerd? It is a stretch,…but worth a read, if you are into US politics.

From Nate Silver:

Now, we can attempt to solve this equation at the statewide level. When we plug in a t of .499956 -- Franken was picked on just slightly very less than half of the ballots during the initial count -- we get a value for franken_net of .837. That is, Franken will gain a net of .837 votes for every 10,000 cast. With a total of 2,885,555 ballots having been recorded in the initial count, this works out to a projected gain of 242 votes for Franken statewide. Since Norm Coleman led by 215 votes in the initial count, this suggests that Franken will win by 27 votes once the recount process is complete (including specifically the adjudication of all challenged ballots).



Link: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/projection-franken-to-win-recount-by-27.html
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Some sense of equilibrium is widely viewed as healthy.

When the numbers get too whacky, it's usually no good for anyone.

Remember, this is America, not Italy, not Spain, not France, not South Carolina.

No super- majority in the Senat for the blue team.

Georgia Senate race tests Obama - The Boston Globe

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Republican wins key Senate race

^ Yes, thank the gods.

Originally Posted by Bugs

No super- majority in the Senat for the blue team.

Congrats to the blue team! As Tex says, balance is always a good thing. Dems have enough seats already. I think the good news is there are more Dems and Republicans clustered in the middle there there are on wings of either party. Now if only the Dems would get rid of Pelosi and put a "leader" rather than a "divider" in as Speaker things might get done.

Let's dump Harry Reid as well. What a joke...says DC tourist 'smell'. He's the one that stinks...

Originally Posted by Norton

I think the good news is there are more Dems and Republicans clustered in the middle there there are on wings of either party.

yes, a significant percentage of the dems in the house and senate could be labeled as centrists...but on the issues that matter most to americans (getting out of iraq, access to affordable health care, beginning to solve the the economic crisis), i think they agree with the positions put forth by democrats

Originally Posted by Norton

Now if only the Dems would get rid of Pelosi and put a leader rather than a divider in as Speaker things might get done.

speaker of the house is an inherently partisan position, since the job of the speaker is to ensure that legislation gets passed by the majority party he/she represents.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Let's dump Harry Reid as well

Only seem to have to endure Nancey's ramblings here in Thailand.

Many better than Harry Reid to "lead" the Senate but the little I know of him, he is a very conservative Dem. Apposes gay marriage, supports the Patriot Act, supports the death penalty, opposes gun control. Although he voted yes on the decision to invade Iraq, he later became an adamant critic of the war. His vocal and oft times insulting opposition is probably the biggest reason he is disliked by many conservatives.

The house speaker position is far more important than the Senate majority leader anyway so Pelosi is the biggest problem IMO.

Originally Posted by Norton

She failed miserably in the first go around for approval of the $700B bailout by scolding the House members like a bunch of school children. Passed the second time not so much from her doing but by the hard work of other Dems and Republicans.

i don't think you're being entirely fair here norton....while what pelosi said may have been indelicate, her comments certainly shouldn't have influenced how grown men and women would vote on an urgent economic issue that was directly related to national security.

and i think if you go back and check the reports from a day or two after the first bill didn't pass, you'll find that minority whip blunt changed his tune and said her comments only swayed a couple of votes....not the 10-15 originally reported.

Not an election, but wondering about Caroline Kennedy and her bid for Hilly's NY senate seat. A bit naff, IMO. What does she know? Less than Palin, IMO. Cuomo would be better. I bet Bambam is pushing for Caroline tho.

Originally Posted by raycarey

i don't think you're being entirely fair here norton....while what pelosi said may have been indelicate, her comments certainly shouldn't have influenced how grown men and women would vote on an urgent economic issue that was directly related to national security.

Yeah you're probably right. Fact is I just don't like her and her style. Reminds me too much of my ex!

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Not an election, but wondering about Caroline Kennedy and her bid for Hilly's NY senate seat. A bit naff, IMO. What does she know? Less than Palin, IMO. Cuomo would be better. I bet Bambam is pushing for Caroline tho.

Agree. There are plenty of better choices. Even a blind man could see this.

Doubt Obama would favor her. Whoever gets the seat will need to face an election in a couple of years. Obama would be looking for someone who is more likely to win that election.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Not an election, but wondering about Caroline Kennedy and her bid for Hilly's NY senate seat. A bit naff, IMO. What does she know? Less than Palin, IMO. Cuomo would be better. I bet Bambam is pushing for Caroline tho.

I'm trying to be objective: I think it's very difficult to be more ignorant than Palin.

And I think the Caroline Kennedy probably is much more educated and sophisticated than Sarah Palin.

Have said this, I do NOT like Caroline Kennedy going for a Senate seat on bases of her pedigree (name).