It appears Dems will hang on to the Senate, although it’s close. As of this morning the Dems have 49 Senate seats and Republicans have 46. Three races are undecided, and in two of those — Colorado and Washington — the Dem is ahead by a hair but votes still are being counted.
It appears Republican Lisa Murkowski will win Alaska with write-in votes. And if the write-in votes are discounted somehow, the troglodyte GOP candidate Miller is second. So the GOP will keep Alaska, giving them 47 Senate seats.
The Dems have two independent senators who caucus with them, which gives them (in effect) 51 votes as of now, without Colorado and Washington. But one of those independents is Joe Lieberman, who may very well take this opportunity to stab his former party in the back and caucus with Republicans. It would be the Lieberman thing to do, especially if the Dems lose Colorado and Washington.
So if Lieberman switches parties, that would be 50 Dem votes and 48 Republican votes in the Senate. And then if both Washington and Colorado were to fall to Republicans, it would be a 50-50 Senate. We’d have only Joe Biden in tie-breaking capacity to tilt the votes to Dems. So keep your fingers crossed for Washington and Colorado. (Nate Silver thinks the Dems probably will keep those seats, but it’s way close.)
On the bright side, let us note that Harry Reid’s win in Nevada was made possible only by the tea-party inspired nomination of the worst possible Republican candidate. And need I say — Christine O’Donnell? Were it not for the crazies in the Tea Party, Republicans had a real shot at taking back the Senate as well as the House. GOP party elites may be fantasizing about “second amendment solutions” to its tea party problem this morning.
Another bright light in the gloom is that Barbara Boxer will keep her California seat. And good luck being governor again, Jerry Brown!
The two greatest losses, as far as I’m concerned: Feingold and Grayson. I used to love you, Wisconsin. Wha’ happen?
Maybe, even with his victory, Reid can be pushed out of the Majority Leader position. God knows he’s earned it.
Here in NY, it’s not so much Cuomo’s victory that we cheer, it’s Paladino’s loss. I heard he gave his final speach with a baseball bat in his hands – a Capone wannabe? I’ll check the video later.
My Congressman, John Hall, lost, so I’m not happy about that.
And ‘Chuckles the Corporate Clown’ won, as did Gillibrand – only better than the Republican Whoreporatist alternatives.
Wait ’till next 2 years!!!
If, that is, the Republicans don’t do something really stupid like not raise the debt ceiling next year, throwing the US and much of the world into another, deeper, depression, which is entirely possible. Stupid is, as stupid does…
c u n d gulag: I dunno, if Reid is pushed out, Chuckles might be next in line for Majority Leader. I don’t know which one would be worse.
Re Wisconsin — Wisconsin has a long history of bipolar political disorder. It has a long and honorable history of progressivism going back to the 19th century, but it also gave us Joe McCarthy.
I haven’t been there in years, but it used to be that upstate Wisconsin barely rose to the level of “rural.” It was mostly a place where men and occasional women went hunting and muskie fishing and were eaten alive by enormous Nazi mosquitoes. It used to be said that you could judge the quality of a tavern in Wisconsin by the number and size of the stuffed fish over the bar.
The southern part of the state is mostly populated by Holsteins, plus roadside stands selling cheese and live bait to tourists.
Madison actually is a cool little city, however. It is a nice place to visit, and probably a nice place to live as well if you don’t mind the winters. I don’t recall that I’ve ever been to Milwaukee (except to change planes at the airport). I’m guessing, though, that the less populated parts of the state are pretty conservative, and the progressive votes come out of Milwaukee and Madison. I can’t say that for sure, though.
Update: I forgot Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine. I’ve never been to any of those cities, but I know they are in Wisconsin somewhere.
Ugh, I forgot that Chuckles might be one of the first in line. He’s an even word Whoreporatist than Ol’ Harry. But he might have more fight in him – the question is, over what?
And yeah, I forgot about WI. My cousin lived there for about 20 years. She now lives in SC, and has for the last 8. She tells me the only difference in the rural areas is that it’s much colder in WI.
One of the great divides in this country is between urban suburban, and rural parts of the country. Many cities and their adjacent suburbs are blue, or lean blue, whereas almost all rural parts, are solidly red – at least accordingly to the map of the results of the House races at CNN Also, the coast’s blue, from the ‘Heartland’ red. It also appears a a good chunk of the Midwest is going red, though that may be a temporary problem. Or, it might be a long-term one, now that manufacturing is pretty much dead, and unions on life support. Disenfranchise white workers are the Republicans bread and butter.
I’ll be interested in what knowledgable people have to say about all of this. Which means I’ll stick to the blogs, the NY Times (certain reporters and columnist’s) and a few people on MSNBC.
I’m sure on FOX, everyone dressed in their best ‘f*ck-me’ red pumps and matching red clothes. It’s the bestest, wonderfullest day since the SCOTUS gave Republicans a century worth of Christmas gifts less than 10 years ago.
I think I’ll spend the rest of the day listening to The Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat With a Baseball Bat,” and “I Wanna be Sedated” on an endless loop, as I get looped.
Oh yeah, maha, I’m eliblible for a little extension on my unemployment, so look for a few sheckles from me over the weekend, after I get my “windfall” on Friday. I’m sorry it won’t be more…
I am sorry to hear Grayson is gone. He was my hero during the healthcare debates. The good news is the blue dog democrats were cut in half. Down to 26 from 52. At least our own reps won’t vote against us.
I’m generally pleased about what happened in California (Dems swept, and some good propositions passed), but shake my head in dismay at the rest of the country. Will really miss Alan Grayson. I’ve read (at Ian Welsh’s blog) that holding on to the Senate in 2012 is very unlikely for the Democrats, due to demographics. A recent article by Paul Krugman (too lazy to provide links this morning) is ominous as well.
And so I just want to pull the covers over my head for the next two years and beyond. There’s that scene in Titanic, late in the movie, where the ship finally begins its final, irreversible descent beneath the waves. I feel like we’re just about there, as a country.
Just like the time before the first Civil War, I expect the acrimony and polarization to ratchet up even higher, beginning today.
Colorado didn’t go badly. John Salazar lost, partly because of some scuzzy land deals with paybacks from a Mr. Koch he was trying to get through, trading good, National Forest land which accessed important tourist spots for (less) alkaline dessert in Utah. Mr. Koch wants to make a private reserve that only billionaires can use plus he would get all the mineral rights. Anyway, we had to vote Salazar out.
Also, to prove that Coloradans can read, they voted down Amendment 62 (personhood begins as a zygote), 60, 61 and 101 on cutting taxes, and may vote Bennet back into office.
So I thought it was a good day, considering.
Oh, don’t go to bed, moonbat, we need you. Besides, it will be fascinating to watch the Republican majority in the House balance the budget, cut taxes, halve the unemployment rate – in the two weeks following their swearing in this January. (After all, their ragging on Obama began about two weeks after his swearing in, so…)
So far, it doesn’t bode well (for anybody) if their ‘performance’ on MSNBC last night is any indication. They reminded me of wind-up toys. Every or any question put to them on, for instance, what part of the budget they were going to cut, got a standard, Republican, win-up-toy recording for an answer – no answer.
c u n d gulag — speaking of windfalls, I won $24 and a free play on a $5 lottery ticket last night. Woo HOO!
Congratulations, maha!
It’s like one of the great ads of all times. It’s about the NY State lottery – “You gotta be in it, to win it.” That’s about the sum total of my retirement plan.
Things may get better soon. The republicans in charge in this state have not spent the money for economic recover. I guess they were sitting on it until they were voted in.
I did my part in Nevada.