2010 Midterm Results Discussion

I must say I'm impressed by how well Lisa Murkowski seems to be doing in Alaska. I never would have imagined that it would be possible to mount an effective write-in campaign. I figured she'd get maybe 20% of the vote at most.

NBC reporting error of 30,000 votes from Buck just removed.

it's now within a couple thousand votes.

of 95 house seats on my radar screen, all dems naturally, which have already been called, republicans stole 63, dems held on to 32

there are still a few too close and still a few out here on the coast that are just too early

there will also probably be a very few dems NOT on my radar screen to go

i know of 2 republicans who went blue, cao in new orleans (the vietnamese seminarian who voted for obamacare) and mike castle's open seat in witchy delaware

my side took 2 of 3 in indiana, 2 of 3 in georgia, all 4 in florida, 3 in virginia with gerald connolly in VA11/fairfax (probably the most important district in the nation) tied with 99% of the vote counted

my side took both in new hampshire (it appears), only one of 4 in north carolina, zero of 3 in iowa, 5 of 6 in ohio, 5 of 7 in pennsylvania

lost both in massachusetts, took 2 and we're leading in a third in texas, took one and lost one in connecticut

took 2 and lost mike ross in arkansas (he was quite a reach), took spratt in south carolina and skelton in missouri (ex chairs of budget and armed services)

took kratovil on the eastern shore, adler in camden/cherry hill, took both dakotas

all 3 in tennessee, it looks like 4 of 4 in illinois (melissa bean in 8 is trailing by .4% with 99% counted)

2 of 3 in wisconsin, zero of two in maine, one of 2 in west virginia, 2 of 2 in mississippi, bobby bright in alabama, one of two in new mexico, 2 of 3 in colorado

struck out oh-fer two in oregon, took louisiana, likely to take idaho

new york---numbers come in very slowly, there were 10 dem seats my side wanted---5 are officially ours, two remain dem...

cut to the chase, i can see we're gonna take 5 of the 10 new yorkers, dems will hold on to 5

we'll leave the west coast to discuss later, how's that sound?

upshot---plus 63 (for sure), minus 2, with about 15 more (again, all currently dem) out there to fight over

fyi

So I went to go vote today in this little town I just moved in. There was only one choice for mayor so...I put my name in. Under city council there were 5 choices, and six choices needed. I selected all 5 and then wrote in Mayor McCheese. (crosses fingers)

Anyways Conway sadly, predictably lost but KY is also incredibly polarized right now. I think this elections biggest surprise to me is the restraint that people had when voting. The "extreme" tea party republicans didn't get it. The "mama grizzlies" thank God didn't get it, and the establishment Republican that went independent in Alaska won by write in. If anything as a Democrat I need to thank the extreme tea party. If not for them fading things up, the GOP's candidates might have actually have won and we would have gone from getting nothing done slowly, to getting nothing done fast. Thank you Dick Armey!

Well the Republicans are going to get their history making moment. It looks like they have smashed 94 in the dust and are going to set some new records.

CNN is agonizing about how "the media" elevates non-stories to major headlines, without a hint of irony.

Kandahar said:

CNN is agonizing about how "the media" elevates non-stories to major headlines, without a hint of irony.

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This is why I think television news is mostly for children. Most of the time, we are treated to discussion from people barely qualified to talk about anything, talk about policy like they know it. Then, it is mostly just them jabbering about each other and how they view policy. It gets irritating. I might as well walk down to my local Hardees and listen to old timers talk about politics. At least it will sound more true-to-life than that.

I have to say that on Fox it looks like everybody is having a good time. Laughing and joking with each other. That is good to see.

I don't have other channels so I don't know what is happening there.

JohnWOlin said:

So I went to go vote today in this little town I just moved in. There was only one choice for mayor so...I put my name in. Under city council there were 5 choices, and six choices needed. I selected all 5 and then wrote in Mayor McCheese. (crosses fingers)

Anyways Conway sadly, predictably lost but KY is also incredibly polarized right now. I think this elections biggest surprise to me is the restraint that people had when voting. The "extreme" tea party republicans didn't get it. The "mama grizzlies" thank God didn't get it, and the establishment Republican that went independent in Alaska won by write in. If anything as a Democrat I need to thank the extreme tea party. If not for them fading things up, the GOP's candidates might have actually have won and we would have gone from getting nothing done slowly, to getting nothing done fast. Thank you Dick Armey!

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If anyones arrow is pointing up right now, it is the so called "exteme" team party republicans.

I was told 2 years ago my positions are not electable. Kentucky voters just elected someone that shares my values by double digit percentage.

the media fear campagin about my extreme views will keep getting less and less effective as people see the truth.

Meh, my new governor is crappy but his opponent was the same.
This was a disappointing election.

Michael Bennett appears to be making a strong comeback in Colorado. I really think he may have a chance after all.

FiveThirtyEight is speculating about why the polls incorrectly predicted an Angle victory in Nevada:

Mr. Reid is a candidate for whom one votes grudgingly -- because his opponent is unacceptable to you, or because Nevada makes it easy to vote early on the way home from your shopping trip, or because his campaign had the money to microtarget you, or because you're a Democrat, and you vote for Democrats. He's not someone you'll necessary be happy about voting for. He's certainly not someone you'll be excited to vote for.

Polls with low response rates will sometimes miss voters like these -- their lack of enthusiasm may be mistaken for disinterest, or they may not pick up the phone in the first place.

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Makes sense to me.

ARealConservative said:

If anyones arrow is pointing up right now, it is the so called "exteme" team party republicans.

I was told 2 years ago my positions are not electable. Kentucky voters just elected someone that shares my values by double digit percentage.

the media fear campagin about my extreme views will keep getting less and less effective as people see the truth.

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Living in Kentucky I can tell you why people here voted for Rand, and it isn't because he is different. Also compared to the most extreme that just lost, Rand is borderline mainstream. Just look at Nevada, Delaware and Alaska and I will guarantee you that Republicans would own both the senate and house if not for those extreme canidate. With KY nothing changed. Kentuckians are great people but politically dumber than a box of ****. Just look at the guy Rand is replacing, and Mitch McConnell. Rand Paul had everything working against him and Conway had everything going for him and that still didn't matter.

Also I thought CNN had decent coverage. I enjoyed them talkign about Prop 19 but sadface when found out it didn't pass.

Kandahar said:

Michael Bennett appears to be making a strong comeback in Colorado. I really think he may have a chance after all.

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now mistakes are made the other way. They have Bennett with a 70% lead in San Miguel, which won't stand up.

I was hoping to stay awake to confirm my initial hunch, but this is hours from being decided.

ARealConservative said:

now mistakes are made the other way. They have Bennett with a 70% lead in San Miguel, which won't stand up.

I was hoping to stay awake to confirm my initial hunch, but this is hours from being decided.

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But there's hardly any votes in San Miguel so it doesn't really matter.

Many of the precincts that haven't reported are from heavily-Democratic areas of Boulder and Denver. If Bennett doesn't trail too badly elsewhere (and it looks like he may be keeping it close), those votes could very possibly put him over the top.

JohnWOlin said:

Living in Kentucky I can tell you why people here voted for Rand, and it isn't because he is different. Also compared to the most extreme that just lost, Rand is borderline mainstream. Just look at Nevada, Delaware and Alaska and I will guarantee you that Republicans would own both the senate and house if not for those extreme canidate. With KY nothing changed. Kentuckians are great people but politically dumber than a box of ****. Just look at the guy Rand is replacing, and Mitch McConnell. Rand Paul had everything working against him and Conway had everything going for him and that still didn't matter.

Also I thought CNN had decent coverage. I enjoyed them talkign about Prop 19 but sadface when found out it didn't pass.

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the only real fight was in the republican primary. msnbc and their cronies wanted very much for this to be a race, but it never was.

Conway had nothing going for him. His views on abortion alone make him a poor choice for Kentucky voters.

He ran on sound bites and a campaign of fear. He should be ashamed

Kandahar said:

But there's hardly any votes in San Miguel so it doesn't really matter.

Many of the precincts that haven't reported are from heavily-Democratic areas of Boulder and Denver. If Bennett doesn't trail too badly elsewhere (and it looks like he may be keeping it close), those votes could very possibly put him over the top.

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it's a couple thousand votes in the wrong direction.

And we are at 80% reporting.

but yeah, when I called the race, it was based of that erroneous reporting that has been corrected. This one won't be able to be called until we are at 96-97% reporting.

Carly Fiorina is giving a weird non-concession speech. WTF? She sounds like she's drunk.

Things are now looking pretty solid for the Democratic senators in both Washington and Colorado. If Michael Bennett holds onto his seat in Colorado, it will be the second upset in the Senate (after the Nevada race).

Although I'm glad to see that Patty Murray is (probably) going to win, I kinda feel sorry for Dino Rossi. This is, what, the third election in a row he's lost by a slim margin? That must be incredibly disappointing.

Kandahar said:

To each his own, I guess.

I think if the Republicans spend the next two years tilting at windmills trying to repeal health care, instead of doing useful things where they can actually impact policy (e.g. education, trade, payroll taxes), they'll be tossed right back out again.

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What kills me is the repubs say they want to cut deficit spending but the one sacred cow that would get it done they won't touch -- defense spending and the two wars that are draining the life blood out of this country's treasury. For God's sake the repubs built an embassy in Iraq bigger than the Vatican! If that isn't a waste of money I don't know what is.

When Cantor was asked point blank last night how he would cut the deficit he ***** footed around it. Never gave an answer. If that is their plan they will most definitely be tossed back in 2012.

Repubs will you get it done and make some hard choices? The next two years will tell.

Oddly we had a notable senatorial race here in Indiana where a special election was held to replace the disgraced Mark Souder. It wasn't and still isn't even in any of the alphabetical subscripts on CNN. Perhaps FOX or the other networks. I think CNN screwed up on this one.

I did look it up on the Internet and see Stutzman the repub won which is no surprise in a state as red as Indiana. Lots pull the republican lever and be done with it here even though Stutzman is a terrible candidate. He did some very nasty and vindictive things during the election including caught in bald face lies.

EnigmaO01 said:

What kills me is the repubs say they want to cut deficit spending but the one sacred cow that would get it done they won't touch -- defense spending and the two wars that are draining the life blood out of this country's treasury. For God's sake the repubs built an embassy in Iraq bigger than the Vatican! If that isn't a waste of money I don't know what is.

When Cantor was asked point blank last night how he would cut the deficit he ***** footed around it. Never gave an answer. If that is their plan they will most definitely be tossed back in 2012.

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Let's see, who hasn't pulled out of the wars? Obama? The trouble with the left is they want to balance the budget on the item with represents 20% of the budget. You don't want to cut anywhere else. The embassy is bigger than the Vatican; where did you hear that?

American said:

Let's see, who hasn't pulled out of the wars? Obama? The trouble with the left is they want to balance the budget on the item with represents 20% of the budget. You don't want to cut anywhere else. The embassy is bigger than the Vatican; where did you hear that?

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He would have pulled out but it would have been political suicide as right would have crucified him and compared the pull out to Vietnam. Never mind he inherited the mess.

Here you go. Largest embassy and most expensive ever. The size of 80 ****ing football fields! It shows you the repubs are big spenders too. The link is from a right wing news source. How about that?

U.S. Embassy in Iraq Largest, Most Expensive Ever - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com

Kandahar said:

CNN is showing off their stupid high-tech toys again.

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John King is so annoying with his overdone analysis.