Official midterm elections thread

[Patrick Degan]

Looks like California will not be legalizing marijuana this time around.

Damn. I actually voted FOR that. I'm not surprised though, Prop 19 made an incredibly weak attempt at campaigning.

I noticed a lot of the major newspapers came out against it, even papers that are nominally liberal (SJ Mercury News, SF Chronicle).
Probably helped persuade older low info people who still read newspapers and avoid the interwebs.

At least that's my theory.

The fact that the Feds came out and said they'd never allow legal marijuana no matter what state law was passed deflated whatever support there was for the measure.

Reports are in that Barbara Boxer won over Fiorina. Another seat remains in Democratic hands.

[Cecelia5578]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archiv ... dition.php

Okay, that rocket ahead by Ken Buck in Colorado? Apparently it was the result of a typo in Boulder County. Literally. Still waiting to get results after correction.

Late Update: Getting conflicting word about what the current vote count is in Colorado post-typo-fix. Whoever's ahead it now seems like just a few thousand votes.

I guess CO is still in play?

[eion]

The fact that the Feds came out and said they'd never allow legal marijuana no matter what state law was passed deflated whatever support there was for the measure.

That may have played a role, but the Feds haven't been at all successful in countering medical pot anywhere, despite the FDA finding that marijuana has NO medical benefits

The Exit Poll is pretty damning. Basically only Young, Full-time employed Obama supporting liberals making between $100k and $200k approve of the initiative.

[General Zod]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archiv ... dition.php

Okay, that rocket ahead by Ken Buck in Colorado? Apparently it was the result of a typo in Boulder County. Literally. Still waiting to get results after correction.

Late Update: Getting conflicting word about what the current vote count is in Colorado post-typo-fix. Whoever's ahead it now seems like just a few thousand votes.

I guess CO is still in play?

I expect to hear about Buck contesting the vote when I wake up in the morning.

[Cecelia5578]

The fact that the Feds came out and said they'd never allow legal marijuana no matter what state law was passed deflated whatever support there was for the measure.

Reports are in that Barbara Boxer won over Fiorina. Another seat remains in Democratic hands.

I think it could pass in 2012, assuming more young voters will come out in a presidential election rather than a midterm.

And: Has Fiorina pulled even with Boxer?

Edit: I guess its a statistical anomaly, just more red counties reporting in, I hope.

[Pelranius]

Murkowski in Alaska has 40% of the vote with 33% reporting in Alaska. Wonder what that means? I think the Republicans will let her caucus with them but never underestimate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party's vindictiveness.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

It's like watching a train-wreck. I just can't look away. Some bright spots: Congressman Grijalva is slowly pulling ahead of teabagger Ruth McClung. Congresswoman Giffords will likely defeat teabagger Jesse Kelly due to a surprisingly strong showing by the lolbertarians. "KILL OBAMACARE" now leads by a mere 1400 or so votes statewide. Maybe when they count the last 40% of the vote, it will turn out that the people of Arizona aren't quite as rabidly stupid as I believe them to be. But since "Kill Affirmative Action" is still winning handily, I suspect the forces of rabid stupidity are going to triumph. However, medical marijuana has surged ahead after a slow start . . . I wonder if I can get a prescription for post-election depression . . .

[Patrick Degan]

The fact that the Feds came out and said they'd never allow legal marijuana no matter what state law was passed deflated whatever support there was for the measure.

Reports are in that Barbara Boxer won over Fiorina. Another seat remains in Democratic hands.

I think it could pass in 2012, assuming more young voters will come out in a presidential election rather than a midterm.

And: Has Fiorina pulled even with Boxer?

Edit: I guess its a statistical anomaly, just more red counties reporting in, I hope.

Trying to check right now, but the online edition of The Hill reports that CNN and the L.A. Times have called the race for Boxer. Fox are also calling the race for Boxer.

[eion]

Murkowski in Alaska has 40% of the vote with 33% reporting in Alaska. Wonder what that means? I think the Republicans will let her caucus with them but never underestimate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party's vindictiveness.

It's important to note that we don't know what percentage of those Write-In Candidate votes are for Murkowski as they will not be opened for another 2 weeks. It is very likely that the vast majority of them are for Murkowski, but they could include several other registered write-in candidates as well.

And Murkowski isn't all that much better than Miller anyway. I doubt she'd caucus with the Democrats unless they offered her a very sweet committee posting.

[Pelranius]

Murkowski in Alaska has 40% of the vote with 33% reporting in Alaska. Wonder what that means? I think the Republicans will let her caucus with them but never underestimate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party's vindictiveness.

It's important to note that we don't know what percentage of those Write-In Candidate votes are for Murkowski as they will not be opened for another 2 weeks. It is very likely that the vast majority of them are for Murkowski, but they could include several other registered write-in candidates as well.

And Murkowski isn't all that much better than Miller anyway. I doubt she'd caucus with the Democrats unless they offered her a very sweet committee posting.

I thinking was more along the lines of Sarah Palin trying to get people to ostracize Murkowski. I don't think she'll be successful all the time, but Ms. Palin has proven to be very vindictive in the past and she has a very longstanding grudge against the Murkowski family.

[SirNitram]

Well, I think it's safe to make some predictions.

With them winning in the House, the attempt to impeach Obama will begin as soon as Issa is sworn in. Just like with Clinton, it will keep plugging away, until they can find a formality(Say, lying about your sex life to Congress), and then the dog and pony show will begin. The media will helpfully run every press release from the GOP's folks as fact.

Repeated attempts to repeal everything from Fair Pay to the financial reform will be done. Most will die in the Senate.

The Teabaggers will eat the so-called adults alive. Every single GOPer with a hope of a career will quickly join in. As a result, the tea party will be emboldened, across the board. Expect lots of noise from the right wing media.

Mostly I hope Prop 25 passes and the various corporate giveaways(Majority to assess fees, roll back enviromental laws).

[Pint0 Xtreme]

Looks like California will not be legalizing marijuana this time around.

Damn. I actually voted FOR that. I'm not surprised though, Prop 19 made an incredibly weak attempt at campaigning.

There wasn't a lot of money. There was so little in fact that YesOn19 barely got a single TV ad out just before the elections. As said earlier, NoOn19 got almost every damn newspaper, elected official and local agency endorsement in the state. Without a good TV advertising campaign, all the anti-marijuana endorsements are sure to do a number on the proposition.

[Pelranius]

With them winning in the House, the attempt to impeach Obama will begin as soon as Issa is sworn in. Just like with Clinton, it will keep plugging away, until they can find a formality(Say, lying about your sex life to Congress), and then the dog and pony show will begin. The media will helpfully run every press release from the GOP's folks as fact.

Doing that when the economy is bad isn't a good idea. When there's a whole bunch of other issues to attack on, it's not smart to manufacture your own.

[sketerpot]

Iowa voted three supreme court justices out of office, as petty retribution for legalizing gay marriage. Damn. On the plus side, gay marriage didn't get any less legal, nor will it. We still have the last laugh.

[bobalot]

With them winning in the House, the attempt to impeach Obama will begin as soon as Issa is sworn in. Just like with Clinton, it will keep plugging away, until they can find a formality(Say, lying about your sex life to Congress), and then the dog and pony show will begin. The media will helpfully run every press release from the GOP's folks as fact.

Doing that when the economy is bad isn't a good idea. When there's a whole bunch of other issues to attack on, it's not smart to manufacture your own.

Republitards don't care. Neither do most Americans it appears. After 8 years of astounding incompetency topped off by the worst financial crisis since the depression, the public punishes the other side for not fixing it in 2 years. Amazing.

You know what I find incredibly arrogant? All these douchenozzles claiming "We are taking our country back!", as if someone fucking stole it in the first place.

[darthdavid]

This is... most disheartening.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Republitards don't care. Neither do most Americans it appears. After 8 years of astounding incompetency topped off by the worst financial crisis since the depression, the public punishes the other side for not fixing it in 2 years. Amazing.

it was to be expected. Most people have very poor idea how the economy works (hell, even economists can't agree on many things) and will punish the ruling party for recessions or failure to restore growth in short order. Then again, the 2008 crisis was not entirely the fault of the Bush administrations, either. Errors were made even before that.

[MKSheppard]

hopefully we can pick up 10 more house seats -- Fox right now has 20 left for grabs. This would give us 244 - 191 in da House.

[blahface]

It really sucks that Feingold is gone. The one honest senator with integrity has to go, but Reid keeps his seat. Why couldn't it have been the other way around?

[Moby Halcyon]

Florida turned into a near-depressing rout. Locally, one-term Congressional Representatives, such as board favorite Alan Grayson were annihilated, while Tea Party-endorsed Marco Rubio easily defeated his two opponents by a ludicrous degree. But the race that scares me the most is the Rick Scott - Alex Sink governor fight. Scott is about one step away from Voldemort in looks and politics, a corrupt health care executive who spent over sixty-something million of his personal fortune (and tried to get a constitutional amendment passed that would get rid of spending limits) to win. Man has no plan beyond thirty-year-old outdated republican talking points. And he's leading by only 72 thousand votes. He's declared victory, but Sink is sitting out a couple of precincts (and honestly, what Democrat doesn't want a fair shake when it comes to counting votes in Florida).

If Scott gets in, combined with the new entirely Republican cabinet, Florida readily looks like it will somehow try to become even worse than it already is.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

You know what I find incredibly arrogant? All these douchenozzles claiming "We are taking our country back!", as if someone fucking stole it in the first place.

They are taking it back . . . they're taking it back to the 1880s. When capitalist robber-barons were free to do what they will. When elections were openly bought, sold, and traded by well-funded political machines. Where reactionary interests were could openly harass the poor and the colored and dissuade them from voting. Where simple, uneducated, folk lived as best as they could, earning a living by the sweat of their own brow . . . because education and opportunity were only for the sons of rich white assholes. Where the willfully ignorant didn't have to feel bad about their lot in life, because the strata of society was laid out in a way they comprehended. Rich white assholes at the top who, threw table scraps to willfully ignorant louts, who could piss on those damned uppity negroes and womenfolk (who knew that their place was pregnant, barefoot, and in the Goddamned kitchen.)

Wow. I'm bitter this morning.

[Bakustra]

On the other hand, consider that the Republicans now have to work with the Democrats or face crucifixion in the 2012 elections.

That's assumes the Republicans are still capable of that sort of reasoning. Two electoral defeats only taught them that they lost because they weren't "conservative" enough. They started out 2009 with the express mission to wreck the Obama presidency. Now, enough of these teabagger freaks managed to win office to ensure that there will be no cooperation with Democrats on anything. Not only will the Republicans not consider the possibility of defeat in 2012, they will act as if they've got 2012 in the bag already.

Can you really see Boehner compromising with Democrats on anything? And Darrell Issa's just itching to use the subpoena powers he's about to get as the new Chairman of the House Governmental Oversight Committee to endlessly investigate the White House. Compromise? It's going to be war.

Wow, I didn't know that large swathes of the political structure in the US were essentially brain-dead. Are they fascists too?

That's the common narrative among liberals, but on the other hand, over the past two years they were the minority party and could throw out whatever rhetoric they liked to motivate the base. I'm pretty sure that many of them are aware that they lost in '06 and '08 because of Bush. But they focused more on deficits and the economy over the last two years, since they know that those are areas where they are traditionally strong and areas that people are very concerned about. They know, though, that their "tide" is more of a gentle wave. They couldn't even match 1994! I bet that the majority of Republican leaders are very worried about 2012.

Boehner will have to compromise. Congress is split, and in order to get anything done, people will have to compromise (hur, hur surrendercrats) regardless of what he said to rally supporters. The Republicans will get crucified two ways in 2012 if they spend the next few years doing nothing. If they don't do much, the Tea Party will challenge them in the primaries. Even if they survive that, then they'll still be the do-nothing party going into the general election, and the likelihood that the economy will pick up is pretty good. That would also be attributed to Obama, most likely. Suffice it to say, even if you refuse to admit "intelligent" as being an allowable categorization of Republicans, will you still allow "low animal cunning" or other backhanded statements? Frankly, the Republican establishment have been in politics too long to really screw this up.

[Darksider]

hopefully we can pick up 10 more house seats -- Fox right now has 20 left for grabs. This would give us 244 - 191 in da House.

Yes. Let's hope the people who are fucking up the country the fastest gain more political power.

Not that the democrats don't also fuck up the country, but they do it through spinelessness and general inaction rather than active malice like the repubs.

My state has gone solid Republican for the first time in recent memory, and i'm a little depressed about it.

[Broomstick]

Boehner will have to compromise.

No, he won't. Really. Boehner doesn't have to compromise or play nice.

Congress is split, and in order to get anything done, people will have to compromise (hur, hur surrendercrats) regardless of what he said to rally supporters.

You're assuming they WANT to get something done... some just want to hold onto power, some just want to promote their own party, and some are just selfish and using politics to enrich themselves.

The Republicans will get crucified two ways in 2012 if they spend the next few years doing nothing.

You mean.... like how they got "crucified" in these current elections?

You neglecting the contingent that just wants to better their "team" and fuck everyone else, and another slice who are freaked out over the notion of a black man in the White House to the point they want to make their fears self-fulfilling prophecies.

I will be shocked if much of anything constructive gets done in the next two years. While I am in favor of a useless Congress during boom times, as it keeps them from fucking shit up, right now is not a boom. During a bust we actually need an effective government - which we don't have.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Boehner will have to compromise. Congress is split, and in order to get anything done, people will have to compromise (hur, hur surrendercrats) regardless of what he said to rally supporters. The Republicans will get crucified two ways in 2012 if they spend the next few years doing nothing.

That's just the thing. They won't spend the next two years doing nothing. The House will spend the next two years trying to push a GOP/teabagger agenda, generate gridlock in the Senate, and force Obama to spend the next two years vetoing it. Sure government will get things done, but they won't be very nice things. For example, cap and trade will die a horrible death. Rich white assholes will have the Bush tax cuts made permanent. Small portions of the healthcare reform will probably be revisited. Sure, the GOP probably won't go completely overboard with the "My way or the highway approach," but bear in mind that a lot of governors' chairs, and quite a few state legislative seats, are now in Republican hands . . . with the once-a-decade re-drawing of Congressional districts coming up. Part of the overall GOP strategy is going to involve a lot of gerrymandering to put themselves in the best position in 2012.