Category: Politics

The Sacramento Bee — sacbee.com — Analysis: It was political suicide, with an assist

One way of looking at it, says pollster Mark DiCamillo, is that one candidate was bent on character assassination while the other seemed determined to commit political suicide.

Not just the candidate was bent on suicide, but the party that nominated him.

The Argus-Leader gives SD to Johnson:

A mere 528 votes helped Sen. Tim Johnson hold his seat against a challenge from Rep. John Thune in a brutally close race where the final ballots were not tallied until after 9 a.m. today. The closeness of the vote makes a recount likely, and state officials said that would be held on Nov. 25.

Machine breakdowns and late votes from Indian reservattions make the recount more than routine.

CNN.com has called Minnesoda for Coleman, with 86% of precincts reporting:

Coleman 881,240 50%

Mondale 828,885 47%

The WaPo also calls Minnesoda for Coleman.

South Dakota is still too close to call, but Thune leads with 99% counted, so the question is who’s going to be first to call it? Will it be AP, CNN, Fox, WaPo, or MSNBC? Here’s a local link from the Sioux Falls paper.

So how is it that the Republicans managed to win back the Senate, but lose so many governorships? The Libertarians had an awful lot to do with it, siphoning off more votes than the margin of victory in four states won by Democrats, according to lefty weirdo Stirling Newberry:

In Alabama, the difference between Siegelman, Democrat, and Riley, GOP, is 3000 votes. The Libertarian picked up 23,242.

In Wisconson, Doyle, the Democrat, took 45% of the vote, the Republican incumbent took 41% – and the Libertarian took 10%.

Anti-tax candidate Richardson, running as an independent, cost Steve Largent the Governorship in Oklahoma – taking 146,000 votes – when the two major parties were separated by just under 7,000.

In Oregon, we have Ted Kulongoski, Dem 473,424 (48%) Kevin Mannix, GOP 466,778 (47%) Tom Cox, Lib 45,117 (5%)

And two near misses:

In Arizona, Hess, the Libertarian ran 4th with 16,518 votes – while th difference between the two main parties stands at: 17,600.

In Wyoming, the Democrat holds a lead of 5,800 votes. The Libertarian took 3,699.

…which just goes to reinforce the fact that the Libertarian Party is the most destructive force in American politics.

One thing I haven’t heard in all the commentary on the Senate races this year: they reaffirmed the status quo. Not the apparent status quo that had the Senate under Democratic control through a couple of backhanded moves, but the status quo that prevailed the last time the Senate’s composition was decided by voters.

Remember that the 50-49-1 Democratic majority was the product of two extra-electoral moves, the appointment of Jean Carnahan and the defection of Jim Jeffords. The voters, after all, elected a 50-50 Senate and a tie-breaking Republican vice-president, but a couple of backroom deals by Democrats nullified the election. Now that the issue of the Senate’s makeup has been put directly to the voters, they’ve once again voted for Republican control, which will send Tom Daschle packing. Fox News even says he won’t run for re-election, which would be a real hoot.

That’s what happens to people who mess with our Democracy.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Congresswoman from Frisco, is beside herself with joy tonight. Because her party was wiped-out in the national elections, Dick Gephardt will step down as minority leader in the House, clearing the way for the current number 2, Pelosi, to take over the leadership. With her in charge, the Dems will become stridently anti-war and even more obstructionist, and the 2004 elections will be Year of the Woman II. How that plays is anybody’s guess at this point, but I’m betting it will be a disaster for the Democratic Party, and may even help to resuscitate the moribund Reeps in CA. We’ll see.

Simon leads Davis in early returns
Simon has a slim lead now (read the second sentence):

Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and Republican challenger Bill Simon were in a virtual tie with 26.8 percent of precincts reporting. Simon led Davis by 6,000 votes out of 1.8 million cast.

Now supposing this continues, will the Chron will say Simon won a virtual victory?

UPDATE: With 31.4% counted, the lead has flipped back to Davis, with a margin of 18,000 votes. See the slow-loading Secretary of State’s web page.

McClintock has a nice, 6-point lead. He’s the one Republican endorsed by the Chronicle, and he’s clearly a better candidate than the dabbler Democrat running against him.

Olberg and Shelley are neck-and-neck for Secretary of State, and Dems lead all other state-wide races.

The momentum is shifting to the Dems at this point (10:45). Only 2% of LA county, 6% of Frisco, and 30% of Santa Clara are in, so Dems will rack up some major votes before it’s all done. A wipeout for Republicans in California, once again. Will the religious people say they’re happy they sent a message? Of course.

UPDATE: OK, it’s over and Davis killed. Only McClintock has a chance for the Reeps, and he’s hanging on by a thread.

In the finest Blogistan tradition of offering opinions without any factual foundation whatsoever, here is how I think the election will go today:

New Hampshire – Shaheen beats Sunnunu due to the Smith write-in campaign.
New Jersey – Lautenberg beats Forrester but dies before swearing-in.
Massachusetts – O’Brien beats Romney
Maryland – Ehrlich beats Kennedy Kennedy (Townsend)
South Carolina – Lindsay Graham beats crazy guy
North Carolina – Liddy Dole beats Bowles
Florida – Jeb beats McBride, barely, and there’s lots of hassle about counting
Minnesoda – Mondale squeaks by to beat Coleman
South Dakota – Johnson holds on over Thune
Georgia – Chambliss beats Cleland
Missouri – Talent beats Carnahan
Colorado – Incumbent Allard holds on to beat Strickland
Arkansas – Pryor beats Hutchinson handily as Christians don’t vote
California – Amidst record low turnout and the largest Green vote in history, Simon shocks the world and narrowly beats Davis after absentees are counted. (If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.) Seriously though, Arnie’s initiative passes, much to the dismay of liberals, who see their bond issues fail. Tom McClintock wins the only other statewide seat for Reeps. Reeps gain two Assembly seats and hold even in the state senate.

Summary: Senate remains 50-49-1; more Dem governors; House remains in the Reep column; basically a status quo election.

This would be a good day for voting, if there were anyone to vote for.

The Frisco paper ran a long piece Saturday on Susie (“Medea”) Benjamin, the ubiquitous protester we’ve written about from time to time. It answers two burning questions about her name and the source of her funding:

Yet before she adopted the name “Medea” as a Tufts University freshman, she was Susie Benjamin, self-described “nice Jewish girl from Long Island.” A high school cheerleader who dated the school’s top athlete. Benjamin jokes that her mother’s favorite form of protest was “returning something at Saks that she had kept for a year.”

Her father, Al, is a well-to-do developer, who says he has “donated hundreds of thousands” of dollars to Global Exchange over its 14-year-history. No strings attached, say both Al and Medea Benjamin. Al has supported Jewish- related charities; Medea supports a Palestinian state. Said the daughter, with a smile, “It’s best that families don’t talk about some things.”

We think “Medusa” would have been a more appropriate name, but who can quibble with a mother who names herself after the Susan Smith of Greek mythology?