Too Progressive

Cross posted at Raising Kaine, and KOS.

Here’s an interesting article from today’s Richmond Times Dispatch on the shift of politics in Northern Virginia. Think Virginia isn’t shifting from “red” to “purple?” Consider this: In 1996 Senator John Warner (R) defeated Mark Warner (D) in Fairfax county by 53,000 votes. Move ahead 10 years to November 2006, and George Allen (R) was defeated by Jim Webb (D) in Fairfax by 64,000 votes. In 2000, George Allen (R) lost the city of Alexandria, and the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William by a combined 42,000 votes. This past November he lost them by a combined 120,000 votes. According to the RTD:

“Politicians attribute the turnaround to changing demographics, a Republican Party that appears to be too conservative for the region and the unpopularity of President Bush and the war in Iraq.”

However, some residents of Northern Virginia had a different perspective:

“It’s roads and development,” said Matt McShea, a businessman who lives in Loudoun. “Before, people thought the Republicans would take care of things. Now they think the Democrats will.”

Joan Shergalis of Ashburn added: “We have this growth up here, and nothing is being done about the roads in Northern Virginia.”

Many others, myself included, believe the shift in politics in Northern Virginia is partly due to the area becoming much more urban, and partly due to a surge of voters moving down from northern states, which tend to be more Liberal anyway. Immigration, and “anti” voters also played a role in Northern Virginia:

“Carrie Smith, a businesswoman in Herndon, said the entire Town Council was voted out of office on Election Day because of a dispute over an immigration center.

She said voters were in an “anti” mood, and that’s why they voted against Allen and for Democrat Jim Webb.

In addition to the urbanization of Northern Virginia, and the influx of more Liberal Northern voters, Northern Virginia also has a high minority population, which also generally tend to vote for Democrats over Republicans. In fact, of the estimated 1 million residents of Fairfax county, about 40 percent are considered minority, but according to the RTD, only about half of those are registered to vote, however, they still remain a powerful voting block:

“Republicans in Richmond and Washington engaging in immigrant-bashing haven’t helped them up here,” Democratic State Sen. Richard L. Saslaw added.

Shortly after he won reelection (by a more narrow margin than 2 years ago) U.S. Congressman Tom Davis (R-11th) wrote an op-ed piece to the RTD describing the influx of new voters to the region:

“A highly educated multiethnic pool of knowledge-based workers moving into Northern Virginia, mostly from out of state.”

So what’s attracting these highly educated workers? High tech jobs that pay well, of course. Gerald Connolly said in the RTD article that 27 percent of the adults in Fairfax have master’s degrees. “Highly educated, high-tech people are more likely to vote Democratic,” he went on to say.

You may remember last Tuesday when I wrote about the extreme sprawl around Richmond, where retail markets are becoming WAY over saturated, and the ridiculous amount of sprawl that is moving further and further out of the city. Well, it appears this is a big concern of some Northern Virginia voters as well, and according to the RTD, citizens of Loudoun and Prince William counties are rebelling, and one Republican consultant says the GOP has been on the WRONG side of the issue:

As for the outer suburbs, J. Kenneth Klinge, a veteran Republican political consultant, said the Republicans have been on the wrong side of the growth issue. Residents in Loudoun and Prince William are rebelling against development and traffic, he said, and the Republicans were slow to realize this.

He went on to say that Republicans now are perceived as moving too far to the right on social issues, and this has hurt them in Northern Virginia. This is important to remember because Northern Virginia voted OVERWHELMINGLY against the constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages.

Not everyone is thinking clearly though, Republican state Senator Jay O’Brien of Fairfax, whom according to the article is expected to face stiff opposition in his reelection bid in November 2007, thinks the November, 2006 election may have been an “aberration.” Of this year’s election in Virginia he said:

“Republicans were mad because they didn’t like all the spending, independents were mad because they didn’t like the scandals, and Democrats were mad at President Bush because of the war.”

I guess Mr. O’Brien forgot how Tim Kaine (D) handily defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore in November 2005 to become the second Democrat in a row to be the Governor of Virginia. I guess that was just an “aberration” too though. Furthermore, not just Democrats are “mad” at Bush about the war, according to polls, about 75% of Americans are upset over the situation in Iraq.

Regardless, I think this is an excellent article that is just more proof Virginia is not the hands down “red state” that it was just a couple of years ago. More proof that the politics of the Commonwealth have shifted to the left, and Virginia is INDEED, now a “purple state.” Not only is there the very real potential for voters to shift control of the state G.A. to Democrats in 2007, but I also believe a potential for Virginians in 2008 to vote for a Democrat for President for the first time since LBJ in 1964.

Shaun Kenney has a post up accusing the Webb campaign of writing research “BOOKS” about some Virginia bloggers. He even list, by name, some of the bloggers that the Webb campaign supposedly “targeted” (if you choose to call it that):

Chad Dotson, Jim Hoeft, Ben Tribbett, Waldo Jaquith, Josh Chernila, Lowell Feld, Jim Riley, J.C. Wilmore, Jon Henke, and a host of others.

The Liberal Progressive would like to congratulate each and every one of you!!!

Kenney goes on to write:

These are not your typical background checks either… a significant amount of money was spent crafting the kind of opposition research one would typically find on a candidate running for public office.

I’m by no means calling Shaun Kenney a liar, but I’d like to echo Eileen, among others, in asking Shaun to prove it, and tell us where this is coming from.

On another note, I think Shaun MAY be making a bigger deal out of this than need be. I’ve never worked on a campaign myself, but from what I’ve been told by MY “sources” (who HAVE worked on several campaigns including Webb’s) this type of thing has become common campaign practice since the rise of the blogosphere’s influence. In fact, I bet the Allen campaign did it too, and there is NOTHING wrong with it!

Why shouldn’t a campaign gather as much information as it can on any individual who could potentially (and in Ben Tribbett’s case, actually DID!) have a major impact on the campaign.

Think about it, how ridiculous would a campaign staff look if a well known blogger was releasing damaging information against it, and the campaign was CLUELESS as to who the person even was. The Webb campaign, and ANY other campaign would be negligent to NOT educate itself of the goings on in the blogosphere, and the people who have major influence within it. The blogosphere is constantly buzzing about the “LACK” of attention some bloggers perceive it is getting, well, YOU FINALLY HAVE YOUR PROOF THAT CAMPAIGNS DO TAKE BLOGGERS SERIOUSLY!!! Deal with it.

So once again, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THOSE WHO MADE THE LIST, YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF INFLUENCE IN VIRGINIA TO HAVE WARRANTED THE ATTENTION FROM CAMPAIGN STAFF LIKE THIS!!!!

In the end, perhaps the “big” story here is that we have yet MORE PROOF that the influence bloggers (can) have in politics is growing at a larger rate than some people may have thought.

I’d also point out that I have waited WELL OVER two (now going on three) hours since the entry appeared on Kenney’s blog, to give him time to answer calls to reveal his sources. However, there is still no word on where this might be coming from, only speculation. Of course, I’ll be updating as more information becomes available.

You may remember last month I (and MANY others in the “blogosphere”) wrote about outgoing Senator George Allen’s ridiculous plan to introduce legislation that would allow carrying of concealed weapons in national parks, deemed “George Allen’s last gift to America” by some. Then I followed up with an update saying that Senator elect Jim Webb had wrote a campaign letter on October 30, 2006 saying he plans to introduce similar legislation. Well last night, after reading Not Larry Sabato’s post regarding an email the Virginia Gun Owners Coalition sent out bemoaning Frank Wolf for refusing to support guns in Darfur, I came across this entry on the VGOC’s website, claiming that Senator elect Jim Webb might be backing off the proposal a bit. As you might imagine, they are on the verge of going into uncontrolled seizures over there because of it.

Is Jim Webb going to be just another politcal hack or the gutsy statesman that he fancies himself to be and wants you and me to think he is?

We are about to find out because Congress adjourned early on December 9th AND George Allen made the decision not to fight for the repeal of the National Park Ban.

Apparently, they wanted Allen to attach the piece of garbage as a rider to another bill, therefore it likely wouldn’t be debated, and would likely go under the radar, (see: The 2003 “Rave Act” which I consider to be one of the most vile, dumb ass pieces of legislation ever passed, that was attached as a rider to the Amber Alert bill).

The author of the piece on the VGOC’s website went on to say:

Why would I say that? Because Jim Webb refused to answer the VGOC survey AND was unwilling to put his gun promises at his campaign web site. So , why did Webb post them at a hidden corner of the internet?

That’s funny!! The VGOC will be pleased to hear (probably for the first time, since they don’t seem too well informed) that Webb had NO PROBLEM filling out a survey submitted to him by the NRA, whom by the way, he received an “A” rating from. The only reason he didn’t win the NRA endorsement was because George Allen received an “A+” rating (you can guess why, can’t you?). Jim Webb made it perfectly known (to anyone PAYING ATTENTION) that he was, and still is “PRO GUNS,” a “proud gun owner,” a concealed weapon permit holder, and has regular “shooting activity.” It was one of the reasons he won over many independent, and “light R” voters, and then WON the election.

In the next paragraph they write:

“Political insiders have warned me me that Webb is already trying to weasel out of getting a recorded vote on his promise.

Webb is weighing waffling on his promises after being taken to the woodshed for his lack of political polish.

Well, I’m not sure who “me me” is, but I’d like to know who his/her “political insiders” are. Furthermore, I’d like to point out that Jim Webb has already proved to us that he DOESN’T CARE what any party tells him to do, he’s going to do what he believes to be right, and will not change his position to satisfy someone. A Democratic Senate Staffer is even on record as having said “I think Webb is going to be a total pain, he’s going to do things his own way!”

They’re such genius’ too, calling for Jim Webb to filibuster (I bet they’re glad they still have that now, huh?) any bill, even if it is must-pass legislation, with even one anti-gun measure attached to it. So the VGOC would support withholding funding from the troops just to prevent “anti-gun” legislation from passing? Then they have some idiotic, childish letter for users to print out, sign, and mail to Jim Webb threatening him with:

I EXPECT YOU TO FILIBUSTER EVERY piece of anti-gun garbage that the anti-gun zealot, Nancy Pelosi, and your anti-gun Senate boss, Harry Reid, tries to shove down our throats. Please understand that you will personally own any anti-gun provision passed by Congress - - even if it is attached to must-pass legislation.

Uhm, sorry, but you’re NOT going to be effective throwing around threats like that. Furthermore, take a look at this (click the image to make it larger/ more visible):

Please note in the TITLE OF THE POST, and IN THE FIRST SENTENCE, there are two blatant misspellings. Now, I’m not claiming to be the best of spellers, and we all make mistakes, but you’d think they would use a spell check, and you’d ESPECIALLY think that they REREAD their post to check for error. This entry was posted 2 days ago, and there is NO reason for it to remain uncorrected. The VGOC wonders why Jim Webb didn’t respond to their “survey,” but it’s NO WONDER! Who would take you seriously with stuff like this?

In an article which will appear in tomorrow’s Richmond Times Dispatch, George Allen takes blame for his loss to Jim Webb. No doubt Conservatives will tout how great he is for “accepting defeat,” while the rest of us sane folk realized long ago that Allen had no one to blame but himself.

His re-election campaign didn’t focus enough on issues and his record, unlike his bids for governor in 1993 and for the Senate in 2000, the Virginia Republican said yesterday.

Well, yeah? Instead of actually focusing on ANYTHING that remotely mattered to ANYONE, the campaign focused on attacking fictional books Jim Webb wrote, and attacking “trackers” hired by the Webb campaign. They even sponsored a news conference where women were given a platform to ATTACK JIM WEBB and something he wrote 20 years ago.

“I think we would have done better if it was focused on those things that really do matter to people in Virginia,” he added. “I take responsibility for the fact that we came up short.”

I think however, myself and other Dems can appreciate this next part of the article the most:

He was interviewed in his Senate office, where the handsome wooden bookshelves stood empty. Packing cartons were stacked in the hallway. Walls in an Allen reception area, formerly adorned with photos of a political rising star, were bare and cold.

Probably carrying that inane football in one hand, like LINUS with a blanket, Allen said:

“I’m not going to brood over every single one of those plays in the first quarter, or in the second quarter. Suffice it to say that in the event that this [campaign] was more focused, and I had done a better job, and our team had done a better job — I’m the quarterback or coach, it’s my name on the ballot — if the A-team, and me in particular, had done better, the team would have done better.”

So George Allen actually took the time (again) to acknowledge that his own stupidity, attacks on fictional novels, and volunteers and his bigoted remarks lost the election. Now let’s await Conservatives who will no doubt, as I said, tout this as some great moral thing Allen has done.

George Allen received a loud ovation from the crowd gathered to hear him speak at the Republican Advance at The Homestead when he announced that he plans to continue to fight for Republican principles:

“Whether in the private sector or public sector, I am going to keep advocating these principles and ideals.”

I wonder if he means like this, or perhaps this, or maybe even this:

Bigotry and scandal, the GOP constituent-approved ideas and principles…how nice.

As I mentioned last night, Ed Gillespie was also elected to replace Kate Obenshain Griffin as the chairman of the RPV.

Check out the entire wrap up of The Advance at The Homestead from the Richmond Times Dispatch.

No surprise here. The Republican Party of Virginia elected Ed Gillespie as it’s new chairman today.

The RPV’s executive committee unanimously elected Gillespie as the parties new chair this morning at the annual “Advance at The Homestead.” Gillespie will replace Kate Obenshain Griffin, who resigned and has since been serving as Chief of Staff for outgoing Senator George Allen.

NLS is reporting that Paul Reagan is Jim Webb’s new Chief of Staff!

10pm UPDATE: Confirmed

Congratulations to both Paul Reagan and Jim Webb.

According to a Richmond Times Dispatch article out tomorrow, outgoing Senator George Allen will address Virginia Republican activists at their annual Advance on Saturday at the Homestead. Kate Obenshain Griffin, the new chief of staff for Allen said the speech will mirror Allen’s November 9 speech in which he conceded to Senator-elect Jim Webb.

The article also goes on to say that the RPV will elect a new chairperson Saturday morning. Ed Gillespie is expected to be announced as the new chairperson.

A friend of mine today suggested I do a recap of the 2006 ballot measures, more specifically the Arizona gay marriage measure which failed, the first one of it’s kind to meet such a fate. At first I thought “no, that’s sort of dated,” but then decided it may be a good idea, especially considering the possible implications the amendments may have on possible 2008 presidential candidates. So here goes…

ARE MODERATE REPUBLICANS AND LIBERTARIANS NO LONGER WELCOME IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY???

As many of you know, there were so called “marriage amendments” on the ballot in eight states, including Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, South Dakota, Arizona and Wisconsin. The amendment passed in each state except for Arizona. However, despite the fact that the measure passed in seven other states, gay and lesbian activist groups were still encouraged because the measures, on average, passed by less than in recent years. Fierce battles were fought over the amendment particularly in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Arizona. In Virginia, an anonymous homosexual couple donated $1 million to The Commonwealth Coalition to oppose the measure, and in Arizona, the Human Rights Campaign donated $100,000 to fight the measure. Organizations fighting the amendments held out hope they would be able to pull out a win in both Wisconsin, and Virginia, but were unsuccessful. In Arizona however, they DID pull out a victory when the measure failed on November 7. Even in traditionally red state South Dakota, the amendment BARELY squeaked by.

Like Virginia, opponents of the measure in Arizona tried out a new tactic to fight the amendment. Instead of focusing on how unconstitutional the amendments were, they decided to focus on how heterosexual couples were affected, especially since gay marriage and civil unions are both already outlawed in both states. Steve May, co-chairman of the Arizona Human Rights Fund, had the following to say in May, 2005 when it was first proposed that the amendment be placed on the ballot,

This initiative would take away health insurance to unmarried couples across the state. Voters are intelligent and fair. They will know what this is really about.

Unlike most other states, the amendment trailed in the polls from the very beginning in Arizona. A January, 2005 poll done by the Arizona Republic showed 54 percent were not in favor of the measure, while 40 percent approved, and 7 percent were undecided. In the end, the voters in Arizona made the right decision, shutting the door on the measure by a two percent margin.

In Virginia, some bloggers, and commentators even speculated that the amendment possibly HELPED Democratic Senator-elect Jim Webb defeat incumbent Senator George Allen, since polls show that many people that voted “YES” on the amendment, also voted for Jim Webb (I don’t buy it - voters DRIVEN to the polls for the soul purpose of voting “YES” on the amendment were probably never going to vote for Jim Webb to begin with). Might this perhaps mark the beginning of the end to the marriage fear mongering from the right in attempt to rally the religious zealots for votes? According to an Associated Press article, Matt Foreman (executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) thinks it’s a possibility,

“What we’re seeing is that fear-mongering around same-sex marriage is fizzling out,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He noted that the bans that succeeded won by much narrower margins, on average, than in the past.

Aside from gay marriage measures, other “Liberal” measures were very successful on election day 2006. In Missouri, voters passed a measure backing stem cell research, in South Dakota, voters struck down a law limiting a woman’s right to choose to only cases where the mother’s life was threatened, and in all SIX STATES holding a vote on state minimum wage (Arizona, Colorado. Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Nevada), voters approved wage hikes.

The Liberal Progressive believes the GOP is clearly alienating some “moderate Republicans,” and “independents,” which it could typically have counted on in recent years. The executive vice president of the Log Cabin Republicans agrees,

“Republicans lost this election because independent voters abandoned the GOP. Social conservatives drove the GOP’s agenda the last several years. Their divisive agenda alienated the mainstream Republicans and independents who determined this election’s outcome. Social conservatives should take responsibility for this loss.”

This brings me to my next question, which is, how will “socially liberal” Republicans do in their 2008 presidential bids? An argument could easily be made both ways. On the one hand, one could say that potential candidates like Rudy Giuliani (former Democrat, and mayor of New York), could potentially do well because Republicans feeling alienated from the party would come out in large numbers to support. On the other hand, one could also argue that “light R’s” may not come out to vote in primaries, therefore more Conservative candidates like Mitt Romney will more likely advance to run as the Republican parties nominee for President in 2008.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out in 2008. The 2006 mid term elections were certainly at least a slight step to the left for America, although I think it will take until 2008 for us to see just how FAR to the left we have actually gone. I hope Americans continue to wake up to the fact that Republicans use issues like gay marriage, and abortion to “divide and conquer” the electorate, and hopefully Americans will continue to reject these tactics of using bigotry and intolerance to win elections.

The Virginia SBE certified the November 7 elections today. Over 2.4 million votes were cast, and Webb’s margin of victory was 9,329, or about .4 percent. The results also included a “YES” vote to all three ballot measures, as well as sending all 11 U.S. house representatives back to Congress.

Read the entire Associated Press article here.

You may remember I wrote about this back on November 14. About how the Maryland GOP recruited 300 mostly poor, African-Americans from Philadelphia, bussed them down to Prince George’s county, MD, fed them three meals, and paid them $100 to hand out misleading fliers to voters in mostly black precincts around Baltimore on election day. According to the WAPO article I sited in the original entry I did on the subject:

“The glossy fliers bore photos of black Democratic leaders on the front. Under the headline “Democratic Sample Ballot” were boxes checked in red for Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele, who were not identified as Republicans. Their names were followed by a long list of local Democratic candidates.”

The GOP also neglected to tell the workers that they would be helping Republicans. What’s worse is that this was NOT A LAST MINUTE GOTV EFFORT, but rather a strategy planned out weeks ahead of time, AND HAS ALSO BEEN USED BY EHRLICH, AND STEELE IN PAST YEARS ELECTIONS!

Well, a reader of Vivian J. Paige’s blog posted this article confirming what I suspected would unfortunately be the case from the beginning, that is, simply not enough legal basis for an investigation.

I figured there was probably no law against this (or at least, nothing specifically banning this type of thing). I also maintain what I said in the original entry I made, that it was an extremely unethical thing to do, and both Robert Ehrlich and Michael Steele, along with the entire Maryland Republican Party, should be ashamed.

The Richmond Times Dispatch is reporting Webb wins by 9,326 votes.

Just .39% separates Jim Webb over George Allen after the local boards complete canvasing. The SBE will not certify the result until November 27.

The Maryland GOP needs to rethink their election day GOTV strategy! I’m not sure it’s illegal, but it sure as hell is shady and unethical! Apparently, they recruited 300 mostly poor, African-Americans from Philadelphia, bussed them down on election day, fed them three meals, and paid them $100 to hand out misleading fliers to voters in mostly black precincts on November 7. The GOP also neglected to tell the workers that they would be helping Republicans.

According to a Washington Post article:

“The glossy fliers bore photos of black Democratic leaders on the front. Under the headline “Democratic Sample Ballot” were boxes checked in red for Ehrlich and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele, who were not identified as Republicans. Their names were followed by a long list of local Democratic candidates.”

What makes this even worse, is that it was not part of a last minute rushed GOTV strategy, but had been in planning for over a week before the elections! This wasn’t the first time Ehrlich and Steele used shady tactics either, in 2002 when Ehrlich was campaigning for Maryland governor (with Steele running as his Lt. Governor), they recruited HOMELESS people in Washington, DC to hand out deceptive fliers at Prince George’s County precincts.

Hopefully this story doesn’t slip under the radar, and hopefully people take notice even though Steele was defeated. Like I said, I’m not sure if this is illegal or not, but it certainly reeks of poor ethics and bad judgement! However, I expect no less from the GOP these days.

Senator John Warner(R-VA) introduced OUTGOING Senator George Allen, along with Susan Allen and his youngest daughter Brooke, carrying that damn football (I swear I’m so glad I don’t have to see him carrying that thing around anymore like Linus with a damn blanket). Allen thanked many people including his wife, John Warner, God, and his campaign staff. He said “The people of Virginia have spoken and I respect their decision…” “today I have called Jim Webb and his team and congratulated them on their victory.” Allen pledged full cooperation in the transition. “For about the better part of 13 years Susan and I have very much appreciated having the responsibility of serving the people of Virginia in the United States Senate and as governor.”

Per the recount, Allen said he would not ask for one.

He then threw a football into the crowd. Jim Webb is expected to speak at about 4:15pm in Arlington.

George Allen has scheduled a news conference for 3pm today, during which I am assuming he will concede to Jim Webb. The SBE will *not* certify the election results until November 27, after which any recount will begin. Both campaigns have indicated that there is a possibility the outcome of the election could wind up in court.

UPDATE:Jim Webb has scheduled his own press conference to be held at the Arlington Courthouse Plaza on Clarendon, BLVD @ 4:15pm.

Reaffirming what we already knew…

AP REPORT

George Allen is reported to have said he is disinclined to ask for a recount, and will reportedly offer a concession speech tomorrow (11.9.06) evening provided that the margin does not shrink significantly. The vote margin currently sits at +7,316 for Senator elect Jim Webb!

UPDATE: REUTERS and NBC are also BOTH now calling the election for Senator elect Jim Webb!
UPDATE #2: Webb campaign will hold a press conference tomorrow at noon, presumably to do what he has already more or less done: declare victory.
UPDATE #3: Harry Reid to hold press conference tomorrow to essentially declare victory within the Senate.
UPDATE #4: CBS has called the race for JIM WEBB!

After getting only about 3 hours of sleep last night, I’m about to call it a night a little early this evening. I’ll be updating frequently tomorrow as once again, Allen is expected to concede, and Webb expected to hold a press conference as well.

With 94.77% of the votes counted, Jim Webb is ahead by .31% The vote breaks down like this:

Jim Webb - 1,173,756 - 49.55%
George Allen - 1,166,410 - 49.24%
Gail Parker - 26,227 - 1.11%
Write Ins - 2,364 - 0.10%

Allen has NOT conceded but Jim Webb did declare victory late last night. Webb has also begun to assemble a transition team and is almost certainly the winner.

Elsewhere yesterday the Democrats won 5 (pickup) Senate seats in Montana, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Ohio, and will most certainly take over a 51-49 seat majority in the Senate pending a definitive outcome in Virginia. The Democrats also picked up 29 seats in the house, without losing a single seat. There are 10 seats still undecided. The Democrats picked up 6 governor seats last night for a total of 28 compared to the Republicans who have 21. There is still one undecided seat in Minnesota, but right now that seat is leaning Republican.

Donald Rumsfeld RESIGNED today following the outcome last night, and George Bush tapped Robert M. Gates, a long time Bush family friend and President of Texas A&M University to replace Rumsfeld.

Webb is now leading by 7,811 votes with only .37 percent of the vote remaining to be counted. McCaskil has declared victory in Missouri, and I’m ready to call that for a Democratic pickup, their 5th of the night. I’m also ready to call Montana for Jon Tester, for the Democrats 6th pickup and they will take the Senate by a 51-49 margin.

I don’t mean to brag but (I’m going to anyway), if you check my Senate predictions from 2 days ago you’ll notice, I nailed it (provided everything tonight holds up).

More updates later tonight. I’m really going to regret this tomorrow when I have to be at work at 10am, then drive to DC.

Now that SBE has updated, and most of Prince William has come in, I’m ready to project that JIM WEBB will defeat George Allen to win this election by the NARROWEST of margins. Granted we’re still waiting for the absentee ballots to be counted, and I’m almost positive we’ll have a recount.

It also looks as though the Democrats will win both MO and MT, although no one is calling them yet…

Updates as the night/morning progresses…

No real surprise here but still, none the less, the Democrats, it looks like are poised to take control of the house, and Nancy Pelosi the first female speaker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The WaPo has withdrawn their call of Maryland for the Democrats, but CNN is sticking with their projection. The Democrats have also taken control of more than half of the governorships in the U.S.