Election Night
I will be updating this throughout the night.
Election night. A crazy time for the political hacks. We are all sitting on the edges of our seats, surfing through websites, flipping through TV channels, desperately hoping to find out the results.
I just read that Bernie Sanders won - before the polls were closed. You've gotta love that.
Right now, I am watching the live election coverage streaming on Channel 17's website. It is so cool. I love internet technology. Here is the link.
And don't forget to check out Exit Voices to read and leave after election comments.
It sounds like the numbers coming out of Burlington are heavily Democratic. Even Dennis McMahon, who the Democrats left off their ad for the other 5 Chittenden County Senate candidates, is in the top six coming out of Burlington, over incumbent Diane Snelling.
8:38 PM update - I was just looking at the partial results on the WCAX website. They have Welch listed as winner, but Rainville has pulled ahead. She has more votes, but he is still listed as winner. That is what happens when people have a one-track mind, locked on the belief that the Dems have the congressional races locked up. I still think this race will be an upset for the Dems. But, I am not usually good at predictions.
8:42 PM update - No sooner had I posted that, then the WCAX website updated and it looks like Welch has pulled ahead. Only 7% of precincts have reported, though.
9:01 PM update - I was just watching Tarrant's concession speech. What a dignified guy. He told everyone that they need to respect Senator Sanders as our representation in Washington. It was very respectful and heartfelt. Then he gave a speech about moving on from defeat. It makes me wish he hadn't run those "negative" Bernie ads. He's really a decent guy. Too bad he never stood a chance because of the mistakes made by other Republicans already in office.
It's also too bad that we sent a socialist to Washington. The Europeans are wetting themselves with excitement. Yip-pie. I wonder if things would have been different if it were not for the war in Iraq. Guess we'll never know.
9:14 PM update - Gah! The WCAX website is overloaded. I can't get on for results!
Okay, WPTZ has results, too. Crisis averted.
It is so annoying that the AP has sent out news stories that Welch won. Umm, he hasn't yet. He is slightly ahead, though. Come on. Didn't the media learn anything in 2000. You can't make early calls. It just makes you look like a jackass when you are wrong.
10:00 PM update - Okay, I really need to get to bed, so this is my last update. I am going to have to wait until tomorrow morning for the good and bad news. It won't be all bad, but enough of it will. I am already listening to Bernie Sander's victory speech. Ugh! He's a socialist, people. Of course, I'm sure that the fact that he is delivering his speech from Democratic Party Headquarters blurs that issue.
Well, congratulations to the first non-Vermonter to represent Vermont in the US Senate. Tonight Bernie Sanders has made history in two categories.
Good night, folks!
8:03 AM update - Okay, Welch won. No upset. I really wish that the numbers didn't go back and forth in the beginning giving me hope, though. I'm sure it was worse for Rainville and her campaign staff.
6 comments:
sour sour grapes!!!!
Congratulations on a great campaign for JP! Did you win?
Thanks, Haik. I am not sure. I just got up from watching the news in bed this morning. (That's the only TV we have.) I don't think all the blogger votes will outweigh all the "I hate Republicans" votes though.
anon. I'm not sure which thing you thought was sour grapes, so I will assume. I don't think my not wanting the US to go socialist is sour grapes. If I wanted to live in a socialist country, I would move to one. I happen to believe in the US the way it is. It is a great country and it didn't get here by being socialist.
But,don't forget that some of the great things about this country such as the New Deal, wouldn't have come about without the prodding of the issue by socialists such as Debs. Something needs to be in place to keep a check on unfettered capitalism. And economic libertarians are even starting to see the light on this, when corporations are more powerful than governments, and therefore more dangerous than the state.
The neo-con machine had to be stopped. As Ford said after Nixon - 'Our national nightmare is now over.' Not quite, we still have 2 more years of the dim son, but at least he won't be able to do much more damage. And for a light on your end, maybe it will force the GOP to rethink their tactics and philosophies in a direction that more Americans could genuinely support. The key word is genuine, not through fear tactics, lying and manipulation. And hopefully the theocratic wing of the party has been somewhat neutralized.
And maybe we'll have a country that more of us can be proud of, because I don't really know too many cons that can even say that with a straight face lately.
Man, J.D., I could take a day and a half straight of typing and still not address everything in that comment sufficiently...
First, as far as corporations being more powerful than governments, aside from not quite being true, do you realize that a large part of the reason certain companies are able to get so powerful is because of government regulation? All of the government regulations that a company has to meet put too much of a burden on small businesses, so only the big ones can survive.
Of course, that's an oversimplification.
And then there's this:
"The neo-con machine had to be stopped"...."And hopefully the theocratic wing of the party has been somewhat neutralized."
You do realize that these are two often opposed wings of the GOP base, right? The neo-cons are the so-called war mongers. The "theocrats," as you call them, are the religious conservatives. There were many in each camp who blamed the other camp for screwing their agenda up. A lot of religious conservatives did not want the war. A lot of the neo-cons think the religious right is a joke. For some reason they all rallied to get Bush elected, but neither side was happy with how he delivered (or didn't) on their issues. That is why so many people who supported the GOP in 2004 didn't this time.
This election was so complex. It wasn't a referendum on conservatism. Some of the people who wanted the GOP out felt so because they were not conservative enough. Some of the people who disagree with the handling of Iraq want more troops and a more aggressive US policy, not withdrawal. This can not be summed up as "the Democrats won." It's more like Bush lost - all around for a variety of reasons.
Then Democrats have a long way to go if they are going to get any permanent traction from this win.
Oh and I almost forgot, there is a large part of America that does not think the New Deal was a great thing.
I'm sure there is more, but I have to get dinner started.
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