America Turns a Corner
I'm just catching up on the news. Stayed up long enough to see how things were going, but some races weren't going to be called until way late, and some still haven't been.
The big news, of course: the Democrats picked up 27 seats in the House of Representatives, formally deposing the one-party regime that has reigned in the United States.
The Senate is close, very close. There will probably be some recounts. Right now, Democrat James Webb has a lead in Virginia but you can bet they're going to have to count those votes over again. It went back and forth all night, now he's ahead by three tenths of a percent. And they're still counting the votes in Montana, another close one where the Democrats have a chance. If they win those two, it's a Democratic majority in the Senate, as well as the House.
Here's The Post this morning on the subject of the Senate contests:
And, as the AP says:
And how did the votes come out in our county?
It is no surprise that Ike Leggett is Montgomery County's new County Executive. A CRC newsletter before the election pointed out Leggett's prominent role in PFLAG, with the implication of course that that means he's pro-gay and the CRC's kind of people should vote against him. He ended up with 67.92 percent of the vote, versus 22.47 percent for Chuck Floyd and 9.52 percent for the ubiquitous Robin Ficker.
The county council will be all Democrats. Montgomery County's Democratic Doug Gansler will be Attorney General of the state.
Some gay friends of ours, Rick Madaleno, Anne Kaiser, and Heather Mizeur, won handily, Madaleno going to the state Senate, Kaiser staying in the House of Delegates, and Mizeur joining her there. Another friend, Ana Sol Gutierrez, former president of Maryland NOW and keynote speaker at our forum last year, was re-elected to the House of Delegates.
We are interested in the school board. Shirley Brandman beat Tommy Le (endorsed by CRC) by a 62.65 to 37.09 percent margin. Judy Docca beat Michael Ibañez, 69.90 to 29.88 percent. Pat O'Neill was unopposed, got 99.41 percent of the vote. And incumbent Nancy Navarro beat Phillip Kauffman, 63.68 to 36.11 percent.
Brandman, Docca, O'Neill, Navarro. Congratulations, ladies. We look forward to working with you.
I case you haven't been following the school board races, just let me mention: we could not have hand-picked a better set of candidates. All of them are fully in accord with our mission, and they're great people.
Current school board member Valerie Ervin won her race for county council against Dennis Walsh by a 81.84 to 18.03 percent margin. Yesterday, the CRC had sent out a newsletter that was very critical of Ms. Ervin. It apparently had the usual effect. Now the board will have to find someone to fill Ervin's seat.
Another school board member, Steve Abrams, a Republican, also ran for county council, ending up with 8.87 percent of the vote. So it looks like he'll still be on the school board.
At the state level, Democrat Benjamin Cardin is our new Senator, and Democrat Martin O'Malley is our new governor, but man, they made us stay up to find out. Around eleven last night the numbers were still tipping the other way, but The Post this morning tells us that the Democrats carried Maryland at that level. Steele's tactics in Prince George's just didn't produce the surge he'd expected -- he ended up with 23 percent of the vote in that county.
The big news, of course: the Democrats picked up 27 seats in the House of Representatives, formally deposing the one-party regime that has reigned in the United States.
The Senate is close, very close. There will probably be some recounts. Right now, Democrat James Webb has a lead in Virginia but you can bet they're going to have to count those votes over again. It went back and forth all night, now he's ahead by three tenths of a percent. And they're still counting the votes in Montana, another close one where the Democrats have a chance. If they win those two, it's a Democratic majority in the Senate, as well as the House.
Here's The Post this morning on the subject of the Senate contests:
Democrats claimed victory in four crucial Senate races early today and held small leads in two others that would give their party the majority -- and control of both congressional chambers.
The Senate majority will turn on razor-thin races in Virginia and Montana, where recounts or legal challenges could delay the final outcome for days. Democrats moved within striking distance by ousting Republicans in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Missouri.
And, as the AP says:
In a triple setback for conservatives, South Dakotans rejected a law that would have banned virtually all abortions, Arizona became the first state to defeat an amendment to ban gay marriage and Missouri approved a measure backing stem cell research.
And how did the votes come out in our county?
It is no surprise that Ike Leggett is Montgomery County's new County Executive. A CRC newsletter before the election pointed out Leggett's prominent role in PFLAG, with the implication of course that that means he's pro-gay and the CRC's kind of people should vote against him. He ended up with 67.92 percent of the vote, versus 22.47 percent for Chuck Floyd and 9.52 percent for the ubiquitous Robin Ficker.
The county council will be all Democrats. Montgomery County's Democratic Doug Gansler will be Attorney General of the state.
Some gay friends of ours, Rick Madaleno, Anne Kaiser, and Heather Mizeur, won handily, Madaleno going to the state Senate, Kaiser staying in the House of Delegates, and Mizeur joining her there. Another friend, Ana Sol Gutierrez, former president of Maryland NOW and keynote speaker at our forum last year, was re-elected to the House of Delegates.
We are interested in the school board. Shirley Brandman beat Tommy Le (endorsed by CRC) by a 62.65 to 37.09 percent margin. Judy Docca beat Michael Ibañez, 69.90 to 29.88 percent. Pat O'Neill was unopposed, got 99.41 percent of the vote. And incumbent Nancy Navarro beat Phillip Kauffman, 63.68 to 36.11 percent.
Brandman, Docca, O'Neill, Navarro. Congratulations, ladies. We look forward to working with you.
I case you haven't been following the school board races, just let me mention: we could not have hand-picked a better set of candidates. All of them are fully in accord with our mission, and they're great people.
Current school board member Valerie Ervin won her race for county council against Dennis Walsh by a 81.84 to 18.03 percent margin. Yesterday, the CRC had sent out a newsletter that was very critical of Ms. Ervin. It apparently had the usual effect. Now the board will have to find someone to fill Ervin's seat.
Another school board member, Steve Abrams, a Republican, also ran for county council, ending up with 8.87 percent of the vote. So it looks like he'll still be on the school board.
At the state level, Democrat Benjamin Cardin is our new Senator, and Democrat Martin O'Malley is our new governor, but man, they made us stay up to find out. Around eleven last night the numbers were still tipping the other way, but The Post this morning tells us that the Democrats carried Maryland at that level. Steele's tactics in Prince George's just didn't produce the surge he'd expected -- he ended up with 23 percent of the vote in that county.
posted by JimK at 10:00 AM
18 Comments:
Donald Rumsfeld to Step Down as Defense Secretary
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/692
Brad
Tester is now the victor in Montana, and it appears Allen will not demand a recount.
Say hello to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
One other piece of information. CRC could not even find a candidate to support in District 5. Phil Kauffman's position was the same as Nancy Navarro's: He supports sex education based on the wisdom of the mainstream medical and mental health professional associations (as did the third candidate, who did not make it past the September primary, Susie Scofield.
The bottom line here is that CRC knows that their's is a very small minority view in our community, and they were afraid to test their views in the crucible of democracy -- elections.
While the Republicans lost, so did the gay agenda and so did liberalism in general. The Congress will be more conservative as the Democrats winning tended to conservatism or moderation and the losing Republicans were, generally, the more moderate ones.
Americans again rejected the gay agenda. You may have thought the Foley and Haggard incidents proved you were right about something all along (whatever that is.). Really, though, the scandals only served to sicken the average American about how pervasive the gay agenda has become. They don't want this kind of conduct normalized in our society.
Locally, the gay agenda marches on at a level most don't pay attention to. We'll know more about the views of the average voter here when this agenda shows its face. If the MCPS Board approves, for example, a curriculum suggesting that tomboys are transgendered- or any discussion of sex change operations, things will get interesting.
The American voters yesterday said really one thing: the Iraq war is going badly and we need a new approach. They were right of course. The President began to accomodate their wishes today.
I saw Steele on Russert's Meet the Press, and while I was not impressed with Cardin, I was even less impressed with Steele.
Jim writes,
formally deposing the one-party regime that has reigned in the United States.
Hopefully Speaker Pelosi will remember what you seem to forget: we have a democratic republic, not some so-called one-party regime (though I guess that is good enough if it is local, huh?). I think Pelosi has a jump start agenda of what she wants to accomplished and all will be watching.
Frankly I am of the opinion that opposition to Iraq policy was over played (though perhaps that is wrong given Rumsfeld's resignation today). I think what cost so many in the GOP so dearly was the level of corruption. This election will stand as a rebuke and a reminder to every Republican what can happen to those who betray the public trust.
Democrats Take Senate
Democrats Take Majority in House
Dems Guaranteed Majority of Governorships
Orin, we almost agree. I was impressed by Cardin(in fact, I was outside the Meet the Press studio to greet Ben)and what he has done in his career. Steele lied on so many levels(and has done so little)- about not being part of the "Washington crowd"(I was outside the Repub Nat. Hdqtrs when Rove held a fundraiser for him- and he was a prominent figure at the Rep. convention in 2004), about not being a Republican and the only thing I am sure he was in favor of was puppies . The most offensive thing - according to interviews here in the past few days- was his use of dishonest tactics to try to get the African American vote in Prince Georges County(next to our county- with a large wealthy African American population). It backfired and he lost PG County badly(he got 25% of the vote). People in PG said they felt insulted by his tactics.
More vote shenanigans...
Posted on Thu, Nov. 09, 2006
State to audit flawed Sarasota County vote
By MARC CAPUTO AND GARY FINEOUT
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com
Florida's secretary of state is sending a team to conduct an audit of Sarasota County's voting system after a stunning 18,382 votes were either not cast or not recorded in a congressional race.
Secretary of State Sue M. Cobb made the announcement today in a letter to Sarasota County elections chief Kathy Dent, who had asked for the audit as well as a team to observe an upcoming recount of the nationally watched election.
Dent requested that the state office's election division perform a post-election audit to examine the ATM-style touch-screen voting machines completely, including its tabulators. Miami-Dade and Broward counties use the same type of machine, the Election Systems & Software iVotronic.
The case has cast a national spotlight on the accuracy or usability of touch-screen voting machines, which don't have a paper-trail ballot that many activists say would make recounts more transparent.
The recount for House District 13, in which Republican Vernon Buchanan holds a 368-vote lead over Democrat Christine Jennings, will take place Monday both in Sarasota County and in the four other counties comprising the district formerly led by Katherine Harris....
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/elections/15970924.htm
Crow is a dish best served cold. I think it's time for Anon at November 07, 2006 2:55 PM to eat some.
We'll see the results tonight and they will be interesting since the media has been talking about a blowout for months and have, in the last couple of days, detected a mysterious shift toward the GOP.
As a matter of fact, even if the worst of what the media is predicting came true, it will really only be a historically average loss for the party in power during a sixth presidential year.
November 07, 2006 2:55 PM
It looks to the rest of us like the "blowout" the media predicted occurred and that this was in no way a "historically average loss for the party in power." There was no "mysterious shift toward the GOP." That was just Bush and Rove spinning so hard they lost what little balance they might have had.
I must say it looks like Bush, reaching out to Democrats and firing Rummy, might have refound some political footing. Time will tell if he has or if he's just going through these few motions to appear contrite.
So who's got the mandate now?
"Crow is a dish best served cold. I think it's time for Anon at November 07, 2006 2:55 PM to eat some.
We'll see the results tonight and they will be interesting since the media has been talking about a blowout for months and have, in the last couple of days, detected a mysterious shift toward the GOP.
As a matter of fact, even if the worst of what the media is predicting came true, it will really only be a historically average loss for the party in power during a sixth presidential year.
November 07, 2006 2:55 PM
It looks to the rest of us like the "blowout" the media predicted occurred and that this was in no way a "historically average loss for the party in power." There was no "mysterious shift toward the GOP." That was just Bush and Rove spinning so hard they lost what little balance they might have had."
Oh the hype by the media is still a question. It's true that the Democratic victories were widespread but the margins weren't large. It could be that people just changed their mind that quickly but it still is something to take note of.
"I must say it looks like Bush, reaching out to Democrats and firing Rummy, might have refound some political footing. Time will tell if he has or if he's just going through these few motions to appear contrite."
Well, if you mistakenly think the U.S. is pulling out, you're in for a surprise. Don't feel bad. Al-jazerra thinks that too. I expect the effort will be revitalized and Iraq will be the winner.
"So who's got the mandate now?"
From looking at the election results around the country, it's pretty clear who doesn't:
the lunatic fringe gay advocacy movement
How do you like the LYING lunatics right here in Maryland?
"The six Trailways motorcoaches draped in Ehrlich and Steele campaign banners rumbled down Interstate 95 just before dawn on Election Day.
On board, 300 mostly poor African Americans from Philadelphia ate doughnuts, sipped coffee and prepared to spend the day at the Maryland polls. After an early morning greeting from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s wife, Kendel, they would fan out in white vans across Prince George's County and inner-city Baltimore, armed with thousands of fliers that appeared to be designed to trick black Democrats into voting for the two Republican candidates.
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.
Nearly a week later, a fuller picture has emerged about how the plan to capture blacks' votes unfolded -- details that suggest the fliers, and the people paid to distribute them, were not part of a hurry-up effort but a calculated strategy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/12/AR2006111201084.html
I've got news for our TTFing friends.
Republicans lost Tuesday because they weren't seen as conservative enough. Democrats won because they, at least, pretended to be moderate.
How many ads did you see saying, "Elect me and I'll make sure we teach kids about the different variations of sexual activity they can enjoy and how to bugger safely. I'll make sure we redefine marriage to mean anything the grooms want it to be. I'll make sure that no parent has any choice where to send their kids to school, especially the poor. I'll pull our troops out of Iraq as quickly as possible so al-quaeda won't be mad at us anymore. I'll raise taxes so the economy will stop expanding so fast and more poor people will have to go on welfare so the government can run their lives. I'll keep social security just the way it is so it will go bankrupt and then the government will have to take over the lives of all retired people."
How many of those ads did you hear?
Anonymous at November 13, 2006 7:26 PM, I hate to disappoint you, but exit polling shows voters were less interested in opposing same sex marriage than in the past.
" Faith groups urging people to vote according to kitchen table moral issues had a 20-point higher national favorability rating and a 20-point lower unfavorable rating than religious groups urging people to vote according to abortion and same-sex marriage"
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=76299
Also in 2004 33% of voters opposed bans on same sex marriage, in this election 40% were opposed to such bans. The trend towards equality is clear
Did you know how inaccurate exit polls are? Research has shown that they are commonly skewed Democratic by about 5-7%. No one knows why.
Randi
Here in the U.S. of A., no politicians were running ads boasting about their support for murder as a birth control method or throwing out the definition of marriage to accommodate those who wish to rub around with others who look just like themselves.
Guess they didn't realize they could pick up a fast twenty points!
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous, the change to less conservative attitudes is clear. In this election more openly gay candidates were elected than ever before. Notoriously anti-gay candidate Rick Santorum was defeated and Marilyn Musgrave was elected by far fewer votes than last time. Clearly the days of ant-gay bigotry are numbered.
You know the election is over when you see headlines like this:
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