The early results look good, but we haven’t gotten to any of the really competitive stuff yet. Bernie Sanders (I) will win Vermont’s open Senate seat (and will caucus with the Dems, who did not field a candidate against him). Sen. Richard Lugar (R) will keep his seat in Indiana (Dems didn’t field a candidate). […]
After 2004, getting excited about exit-poll results seems incredibly foolish, but I know there’s considerable interest, so here’s some of the not-so-secret data. When asked which issues were more important in voting, 62% said national issues, 33% said local. In a surprise, asked which specific issues were the most important, corruption was the most common […]
This will not be the last post of the day, but I had a few quick hits for readers anyway. * Right-wing talk-show host Laura Ingraham not only disagrees with Dems setting up a free voter-protection hotline, she apparently wants to use her audience to shut it down. She gave out the number on the […]
Just so readers know, as part of our efforts to keep spammers and attackers from shutting down the site, you’ll be prompted to answer a different question before posting a comment. Those of you who reflexively type “orange” will run into trouble — it’s a simple math question. (Mrs. Carpetbagger is keeping it to addition, […]
I’ve been doing some research for an outside writing project about Maryland’s Republican Party and I’ve been amazed, literally astonished, by the state GOP’s willingness to … what’s the word I’m looking for … cheat. There are plenty of irregularities this year, and plenty of state GOP networks that disregard legal and ethical boundaries, but […]
Let’s see, it’s Tuesday afternoon on Election Day in the greatest democracy the world has ever known. How’s everything going? The FBI has opened an inquiry into voter suppression by supporters of Sen. George Allen (R-Va.). A poll worker in Kentucky was arrested after he was accused of “choking and pushing [a] voter out of […]
I was talking to a friend of a friend after the 2004 election who said international opinions of Americans dropped far more after Bush’s second presidential campaign than after his first. The guy, whose family is from India, told me that people around the world follow U.S. elections and were aware of the fact that […]
I realize a certain sense of desperation has no doubt taken hold in Sen. George Allen’s (R-Va.) campaign, but when people start receiving phone calls at home alleging from people alleging to be state elections officials, threatening criminal charges if someone tries to vote, you know Republicans’ efforts to poison the political process has gotten […]
Now here’s a GOP-friendly headline in the New York Times this morning: “For Democrats, Even a Gain May Feel Like a Failure.” It’s about setting expectations, and as the NYT’s Adam Nagourney sees it, Election Day is a good time to dampen hopes. In most midterm elections, an out-of-power party picking up, say, 14 seats […]
The pre-criminations, at least among Republicans, began in earnest a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve already seen some doozies. As the NYT recently noted, “Tax-cutters are calling evangelicals bullies. Christian conservatives say Republicans in Congress have let them down. Hawks say President Bush is bungling the war in Iraq. And many conservatives blame Representative […]