Oh dear. Missouri is up for grabs and I can't bear watching Larry King, David Gergen and Adrianna Huffington picking over the corpse. I will sleep now, with uneasy dreams.
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Whoops. Virginia just flipped to Webb. Montana isn't reporting in any great depth yet. Even if the Demos take both of those, though, I'm predicting that Missouri and Tennessee hold. Which would leave the Senate as a tie, with Dick Cheney casting the tie-breaking vote. I am guessing that that wouldn't be the favorite part of his duties. I don't think he suffers fools gladly.
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So. A defeat for the Republicans, but at best a minor victory for the Democrats. Jeff Greenfield just pointed out on CNN that this was the first time since the Senate was elected by popular vote (1924?) that the party which lost one house of Congress didn't also lose the other.
Not what I'd like to have seen, but not an unthinkable result. If Pelosi, et. al. take it as a mandate to go wild with impeachment motions, ultimatums on Iraq, etc., so much the better. They'll pay for it in 2008.
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All over for the Senate. Allen looks like he'll take Kentucky Virginia (I'm always getting those mixed up for some reason); Corker wins in Tennessee. Missouri heavily leaning to Talent.
House: 124 Rep. 144 Dem. Certainly the MSM prediction of a Democratic wave sweeping aside the Republicans isn't going to happen; but it looks like they'll win the House, with a small majority, I'm guessing.
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One of the difficulties for a foreign observer in this type of election is that, as Tip O'Neill famously observed, "all politics is local." It's possible to generalize the mood of the nation in a Presidential race; much more difficult to analyze how it will play out in 435 Congressional districts and 30-odd Senate races.
Speaking of which: House Rep. 56 Dem. 63. Senate Rep. 44 Dem. 41. Gov. -- didn't quite catch the number, but the Democrats seem comfortably ahead.
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Mind you, there's a couple of hockey games tonight, so my attention might be divided. Priorities, people, priorities.
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I hadn't planned to liveblog the elections, and I probably won't have a lot to say about them, but I thought I'd keep a page open in case I have any thoughts. Hey, it's been known to happen.
I remain steadfast to my optimistic prediction of a few days ago. Right now CNN shows Republicans 22 Democrats 32 for the House; Rep 42 Dem 30 in the Senate. Governators -- Rep. 7 Dem. 12.