Christian Coalition

This powerful lobbying group clearly has its agendas. Outsiders beware. We wouldn't want to have Christians think there is anything important out there besides abortion and gay marriage, would we?

The article implies that the CC leaders say it is their "base" who would be dissatisfied if the organization decided to care about more than abortion and gay marriage. I think, however, that if the organization really wanted to make a difference in other places then it would use its power to tell its "base" why there are more than two things in the world for those who care about political morality to worry about. So I think that this appeal to the "base" is just a poor excuse from the leadership of the CC for its own desire to focus on only abortion and gay marriage; the base has nothing to do with it.

Putin!

I'm not placing any blame/credit anywhere, but I suspect that Putin is the MAN!

Read here.

[nate-- tidied link]

Liberals Stop Whinging, Prepare To Do What They've Been Complaining About

Master Johnny and I have previously expressed our disgust with extremism in the political parties. Trust me, we have a lot more to say about it than we say even here. So this makes me angry.

CNN Newsflash!

Today CNN posted this news that I have been hearing in other places for a week. Way to go, CNN, for getting us news in a timely manner. Way to go, me, for reporting on CNN's incompetence ten years after everyone else knew!

Did you know that, if elected, John McCain would be the oldest President to take office? Ronald Reagan was 69 in January 1981. McCain is currently 70.

Colson on the Election

Charles Colson is someone many of you who read here have probably heard of, even if you don't remember why. The hints include "Watergate" and "Wheaton Commencement Address 2000," and if we had the right people reading we could include "Griping, reactionary Extremely relevant and necesary conservative Christian radio blurbs."

Anyway, Terry Mattingly at GetReligion shared his thoughts on Colson's thoughts on the recent election. I don't have much to say about it except "That sounds about right for me."

Democrats Rockin' the House....and Senate

Apparently the Democrats have taken over all of Capitol Hill once again. To learn more, here's the story:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/08/D8L98GMG0.html

This is, of course, counting Joe Leiberman, who the Democrats ousted, and Bernie Sanders, a socialist, as democrats. Apparently they've signed up with the Democrats.

What would happen if they just stayed completely independent. Would there be no majority leader and just three minority leaders? I really like that idea. I think they should have done something like that to make it more interesting. Lieberman still wants to be a Democrat though despite their not loving him anymore. Oh well. The Republicans love him and he loves the Democrats. If only the Democrats loved the Republicans we could complete this love triangle!

Fixing Our Political System!

I don't know if destroying the two party system is the best idea in the world, but I do know that the two parties we have kind of majorly suck. So, unless we can get a third party in, which does not seem likely unless Perot, Forbes, Gates, and some other rich people pull together to form, then I think trying to break the two party system is the only real solution for now.

(As a side note, I don't know if a party funded by the rich would really be much different unless it were actually rich people who weren't in love with the idea of a corporate run America. Then it could conceivably work.)

So, how do we destroy this two party system? We need to organize and go covert. We need hundreds of good "Republicans" and "Democrats" to go undercover, fund raise like Rendell, and get elected as Republicans or Democrats. Once in, they can "cross party lines" and do some bi-partisan work to allow other parties and independent candidates to have a chance in the elections. I don't know what types of laws would need to be passed, but those are just details to be worked out later. For now, we just need to all start organizing and uniting. The beauty is that we don't have to have the same political beliefs, we just need to agree that the Democrats and Republicans suck right now and something must be done about this. It will mean having to sell ourselves off as wholly one or the other, but there are worse things, right?

If anyone's interested in this "movement," let me know. We should get this thing rolling.

A better idea would be what I just said, but if everyone uniting DID have the same political views. Then we all sell ourselves off as Republican or Democrat, get elected, then all change to our new party causing total chaos. Though this idea is much more fun and dramatic, I think it would be more difficult to organize and unite that many politically like minded people. Plus, with the lack of sincere political diversity, it might become obvious to others. If a bunch of tie-dye wearing hippie freaks tried to pass themselves off as real Democrat candidates, we'd all know the Green Party was behind it.

So, let me know what you think. At least we have some change for now. The millionaire party has been somehwat replaced by the other millionaire party! Woo hoo!!!!

House to Democrats; My Night Ends

Because this is obviously your favorite political news source, and thus you haven't read it elsewhere (yes, ahem, right), I figured I'd share that the U. S. House will be controlled by the Democrats.


More on Murphies...

The Murphy of PA08 has won against Fitzpatrick. The Murphy of PA06 is leading by a percent or so over Gerlach, with 75% or so precincts reporting.


A few local things of interst...

Voters in Reading defeated the city run trash collection proposal. Rightfully so. I heard a lot of talk from the supporters, for many years now in fact, that city run trash collection would clean up the city. I, of course, think that's a stupid thing to say. The city already has a slough of ordinances dealing with trash. Residents are required to have a sanitation contractor. Residents are not allowed to pile trash around their homes. So why is the city a mess? It is lack of code enforcement that is making the city a literal dump, not a problem with the fact that trash pickup is serviced by provate contractors. I'm glad this one failed.

Lehigh County voters have amended the home-rule charter to combine the Clerk of Courts, Registrar of Deeds, and Registrar of Wills into a single position startign in 2008. For those from out of state, yes, we vote for all those people. I voted against this proposal because I saw no benefits. I have this thing for Pennsylvania bureaucracy, layers upon layers of governing muck. It's quite nice becuase it gives more people the chance to be a leader and really screw things up for someone else.

Pennsylvania voters have decided to make a fund to pay money to Gulf War (the first one) veterans. This fund was a nice gesture and, since it's not a whole lot of money, I voted for it.


Pending Awards....

Tomorrow I hope to get around to awarding a few races. I'll try to get to the following:

-- PA State Humiliation '06 Award to the state level candidate who lost by the highest vote percentage margin in a two way race. This person must be congratulated and should be happy to have won at least something.

-- PA State Weasel '06 Award to the state level official who won by the smallest total number of votes. Weasels who speak of mandates will be considered vermin. More so than the usual politicians.

Similar awards may be given for U.S. House races from PA and House and Senate races nationwide.

And, if I really have time on my hands, I will get to this one-time only special award:

-- PA State I Guess I Don't Suck Even Though I'm Poor Award to the state level incumbent who accepted and/or voted in favor of the filthy pay advance and/or pay raise last year and came closest to losing without losing, if any of them even made it.

indecision 2006, or bedtime

I didn't expect the TN Senate race to be undecided at this point. I know Corker is being projected the winner right now with a 50k lead, 97% reporting (and apart from 13% of precincts in 60% Democratic Nashville, all the big votes are in) but so far neither candidate has popped out from behind the curtain to accept or concede. Corker's band was out playing "Rocky Top" (if you don't know about it, don't ask), and then they got moved off the stage.

Also noteworthy is the VA Senate race: last time I checked, Webb had moved ahead by fewer than 3,000 votes. Tight!

Last question of the evening: On the average, are results faster from urban or rural districts? I know rural returns were historically slower because of distance, but the advent of electronic voting machines should have neutralized that difference. And possibly given rural districts the edge, if they have fewer voters per machine, a higher ratio of poll workers to population, earlier closing times, and 'more organization' in their election commissions. Something for a economics research project, perhaps.

An Aside: I Wish I lived There

Thanks to Steve S. for telling me today about Maine's candidate for governor Phillip Morris NaPier. Love the beard.

Murphy's Laws

There are two districts in PA that are considered among important U.S. House races, PA06 and PA08, and both have a Democrat named Murphy on the ballot, Lois in PA06 and Patrick in PA08.

My dad and sister, to add human interest, live in PA06. My sister even met Jim Gerlach, the Rebulican running in PA06, on a street corner soliciting votes at the last election. I've never shaken a congressman's hand!

Both of these races are very close right now. Gerlach went home; his party is scheduled for Thursday. Lois Murphy was just around making her people feel better. In PA08 Channel 69 just interviewed some vocal young republican at Fitzpatrick's hideout and he was sounding optimistic. Something about vote counts in Chester county being delayed and that county tending Republican. Someone form Gerlach's distrct sadi the same thing; maybe that was a different county.

Dems Taking Senate

Right now, the Democrats need to take 3 seats from the Republicans to have control of the Senate. If they hadn't ousted Lieberman, they may only need 2. Good job!

Minnesota Sending Terrorist to D.C.

Minnesota is sending a Muslim to congress. Do you believe that? Not only are they sending a Muslim to congress, but the Muslim is black. What's next, a black woman Muslim?!?!?! I don't believe it!

liquor referendums

Package stores, the local euphemism for an establishment that sells wine & spirits, were voted down in all but one of the area county / city referendums. Probably those counties still have thriving moonshine operators. I'm going to go drown my sorrows in drink.

questions for PA

Santorum really got spanked, didn't he?

What happened to Swannie?

How's Joe Pa doing after getting tackled?

Swann Dropped the Ball

Cheesy, I know. Maybe he can make another run in four years. That might pass for a good idea. Of course, other things are required for safety. It's about political touch. Downplay the city and work the sticks. I'll stop now.

Rob Vaughn on 69 says that the Democrats have picked up 15 seats, good enough for a victory if they don't lose anything.

Knox County results are up

Finally. No big surprises, that I can see.

Well, actually one question I had is answered: the turnout during Early Voting surpassed Election Day numbers. Quite handily.

I was wrong?

I just switched channels for no reason and, lo and behold, NBC has reason to believe that the House is going Democratic.

Casey Indeed Wins!

Casey is on TV right now talking about progress and the economy and how nice it was to run against Santorum. "I really believe... that America can do better and we will starting tonight. But toinight, tonight is a night not only about the future.... tonight is about gratitude...." Awwwww!!!!!

In other news, Brennan has whooped up on Berrigan for the PA Assembly 133rd district.

Democratic Party Platforms

"We're not the Republicans!" didn't seem to work too well for Kerry.

"We'll try to be hip and likeable!" didn't work for Gore or Kerry.

"War bad! Bush stupid!" doesn't seem to work.

Hmmmmm.....they definitely need some new platforms. I don't know...maybe something about helping the poor, providing health insurance for children, being fiscally responsible, or creating jobs in America not China or India. They sound like a half decent place to start. Maybe they should be a little more tolerable and diverse too while their at it. It's amusing how they support Casey for Senate while ousting Lieberman as I'm sure they would love to have done to Casey's father. Maybe if they were a little more accepting of religion and a difference of opinion, other than when it helped them destroy the evil former Senator Rick Santorum (doesn't that just sound great), they would fare better. I'll keep working on some new platforms.

I Return

Oooh, look at everything I missed.

Hey, who fugged with the template?

into the crystal ball

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that the Democrats do not take control of either house. Given the lack of any national message or platform besides the non-committal "Change what's happening in Iraq", I don't think I'm taking much of a risk here. Pity, because I, and other voters (I presume), do care about things besides that. Anyone want to come up with a Democratic party platform that has more than one plank?

votin' in Memphis

While the Republicans have had the lead all night in the TN Senate race -- currently 60,000 votes -- the big elephant in the corner is Memphis & Shelby County, where only 20% of the returns are in. This one should get a lot closer.

Santorum Concedes!

Santorum concedes! I didn't even get to see it. I only heard about it second hand...oh well. At least it happened. Boo yaaaaaa!!!!! The dark side grows weak.

other surprises

George Allen might hang on to his Senate seat in Virginia. He's closing in. This is a great result for people who never knew they were Jewish.

And the Florida house seat resigned by Mark 'page-turner' Foley -- whose name has to be on the ballot even though the GOP is fielding a replacement -- might just stay in Republican hands. So much for hoping the Ted Haggard news would hit a nerve.

early results

I see CNN is calling PA for Casey with 4% of votes counted. Are they that sure, or jumping the gun a bit?

Here in Knoxville (Knox County, actually) there are no reported results yet that I can find, although other counties in the eastern half of the state have returns already trickling in.

And how about Lieberman ahead in Connecticut? Assuming he pulls out a win, will he serve this next term as an Independent, or will he be grudgingly or gratefully welcomed back into the Democratic Party?

Santorum-Casey polls

So, I was looking at the exit polls in PA for the wonderful Senate race between Santorum and Casey. The polls have Casey in the lead. I looked further to see which classes of people voted more for Santorum. Here they are:

Republican:------------------------86%
Conservative:----------------------80%
Protestants:-----------------------50%
Born-again/Evangelical:------------61%
White Protestants:-----------------55%
White Born./Evan.:-----------------72%
Attended Church More than Weekly:--66%
State Economy Excellent:-----------60%
Voted for Bush---------------------84%
Abortion should be Mostly Illegal:-59%
Abortion should be Always Illegal:-73%
Approve of Bush Handling Job:------86%
Iraq War Somewhat Important:-------51%
Iraq War Not at All Important:-----51%
Terrorism Extremely Important:-----51%
Illegal Imm. Extremely Important:--55%
Values Issues Ext. Important:------52%
Strongly Approve of War in Iraq:---90%
Strongly Approve of War in Iraq:---77%
Send More Troops to Iraq:----------78%
Keep Same Troops to Iraq:----------76%
Voted Today to Support Bush:-------96% Voted Today to Oppose Bush:-------3% hmmmm
Bush Not a Factor in Vote:---------56%
Vote Mainly for your Candidate:----51%
Rural:-----------------------------56%
Central/North Tier:----------------53%

A few things worthy of note. Catholics beat Protestants! Boo yaaaaaa!!!!! Polls may show that they voted only 50/50, but Catholics voted 42/57. How's that for themm hellbound Catholics? As far as religions go, the Jews and No Affiliation seem to be the best at 19/81. Born-agains/Evangelical Christians are the worst at 61/39.

Also, the more church going you are, the more likely you are to make the wrong choice. Thus, I conclude that the church uses subliminal messages to make you do the wrong thing. That way, at least if you're Catholic, you have more sins to confess and the priests stay in business. Just a thought.

Let's see...it seems Santorum is supported more by those who don't think the war in Iraq is all that important than those who do. Yet, strong supporters of the war favour Santorum.

Finally, 3% of those who voted to OPPOSE Bush voted for Santorum. Now, are these people just trying to mess with the polls or do they somehow believe that voting for Santorum is voting against Bush. Santorum voted with Bush 98% of the time I believe...at least if all those Casey ads are true. If the Santorum ads are true, Casey gets money from evil evil men and Santorum likes to wrestle and work with Hillary Clinton. :-)

the 'duh' headline of the day

As Voting Nears End, Counting Begins

update! update!

Our polls indicate that Peter will go for Coffee over Tea. I repeat, Peter goes for Coffee!

I Voted!

I voted! What a fun experience. I wasn't really sure how to vote not down party lines though. If you voted for all of one party, you could still change them on the next screen, so it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I really hope Santorum wins. Go SANTORUM!

how your votes are being counted

It's probably too late for any of you to go out and implement any of these suggestions for stealing an election, so I guess I'll just post this link so I can say "I told you so" if things don't go my way.

Incidents

Blogger Jeff S. recounted his (un?)eventful trip to the polls today in Lehigh County.

Meanwhile, for people who want to read about election related incidents, there's lots of stuff at VoteProject.org. The main page isn't looking so hot right now (so no link), but you can still get into it using Google.

addendum

By the way, I voted over a week ago during Early Voting. Bredesen (D) for Governor--about as fiscally-conservative as you can get, he took on TN's state health-care which was running in the red and eating up 20% of the state's budget; Ford (D) for Senate, because the Republican Bob Corker has two Hott daughters, and it would be a shame to send them out of the state; and perennial rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R) for Congress even if he does have a rather inbred look, because I when I went to DC for field trip in 7th grade we met him in the Capitol and he picked me to go on the House floor and press a button to cast a vote.

On ballot measures #1: against gay marriage because I don't like to rock the boat. I haven't heard a convincing argument for why marriage is a civil rights, as opposed to a religious matter; or of why the legal protections and responsibilities granted with a marriage license are unobtainable by other means.

on the NewsHour

The newspaper editor from Memphis points out that it was Not raining in Memphis today, whereas (duh!) it has been pouring here in East TN all day long. Memphis, of course, is HF Jr country, while East TN is heavily Republican and expected to go for Bob Corker. Weather permitting.

Polls here close at 8pm. Talking to my uncle on the phone, it sounded like he'd be standing in line till late this evening to get in to vote.

Springtime For Hitler In Virginia

To be married, be happy, not gay. Acording to CNN projections anyway.

foreign policy update

There are no safe rocks left for Osama when Rambo returns!

Except that Rambo IV won't be about terrorism, but the (hill-country, nominally Christian) Karen people of Burma/Thailand and their fight for a homeland. Which is a pity, considering all the good things Rambo did for the people of Afghanistan when he was there in his last movie.

TRUE STORY!
My high school roommate, who lived in Kabul, said that back in the day he went to the graduation ceremony for some Afghans who attended mujahedin school (a whole week of AK-47s, RPGs, and land mines!). They had a traditional Afghan meal, and then watched Rambo III, which was considered a wholly accurate depiction of the war against the USSR.

Intergalactic Senate

Geesh. 7:00 and CNN projects a win for the independent Sanders from Vermont. That makes things more interesting, doesn't it? Vermont had no Democrat running, but still has a six-way race.

election coverage: a retrospective

I stayed up to watch coverage of the 2000 Election with Dan Jordan, who doesn't have a blog (that I know of), but the all-time best election coverage is still the Monty Python skit "Election Night Special", which is funnier than a fat man trying to hula hoop on a trampoline, as Dan Rather would say.

decision 2006

is brought to you by Coffee. Or Tea. I haven't decided yet. But definitely Tequila.

Introducing... Alysia

While normally found playing at Captain Semantics, or preparing her home for the arrival of a flying squirrel, I've invited Alysia here so that she can join in contributing to the political rants and thoughts. Or she can sit back and make fun of me and peter.

Play nice with her, for she is a nice person. And if her dice fall the right way she might cast a spell on you.

Election Mayhem 1: Rage Against The Machine

In a precinct near me, someone beat the tar out of a voting machine. The insturment of torture? A metal cat paperweight.

Read more here.

Pre-Election Whinging: People Who Vote Stupidly.

Party lines get toted. I really have a problem with that. Push the Republican button, they're all good. Push the Democrat button, they're all good.

Not.

I don't like the party button for a simple reason-- it lets voters be out of touch with the people they are voting for. The offices you are voting for are not held by party, they are held by individuals. And there are exceptions to every rule. People around the country who pushed the Republican button in 2004 got a president who spends money uncontrolled. People in Pennsylvania who push the Democrat button this election will get a pro-life candidate. Those are both things that you would not associate with their respective parties. Let's not forget cross-listed candidates, in places where that can happen to one or more of those seeking an office. And I will add that you're a moron voting for the Democrat or Republican in races like school superintendent or dog catcher where political party has basically nothing to do with the job. You're even more of a moron if you push the party button and leave without realizing you've voted for that office. I could go on and on for a long time with more examples.

Some people walk into the voting booth and push the party button because they have evaluated the candidates. They know who they want to see in office. If all the desired choices are the same party, then the party button is being used wisely. If most of the candidates you choose are from one party then on many voting machines pushing the party button can save you time because you only need to press few things rather than many to get your choices set. If you're too stupid to know the offices and individuals seeking them then you probably shouldn't be voting.

I have never voted completely for one party (outside primaries, of course, and I've even then written in the other party's candidates once or twice). There is always something that makes me make a different choice somewhere. I tend Republican, but I've voted for a Democrat for a state high court, a state house seat, a federal congressional seat, a township council position, and so on. Tuesday I will be adding senator to that list. Why? Because it's the person, not the party, that matters. Maybe I take it too far, always pushing every candidate one-by-one rather than doing the Republican button time-saving trick. I just want to know who I am voting for and for which office. I don't trust that thing to actually let me make changes anyway.

Honestly, I'd like to see the party buttons go away entirely, so that everyone sees who they are voting for in which position. Perhaps we'd get a better government if we thought about what we are doign when we vote instead of acting as though only a Democrat can represent our precinct at 10 meetings a year or only a Republican can properly run the Sheriff's office. Okay, I doubt it, but it's nice to hope.

I'll save the idiocy of "issue voting" for another time, except to say that I've had to argue with some of my liberal friends to vote for Casey because Casey is pro-life. These are people with advanced degrees, folks, not "morons thumping Bibles" or whatever you want to say. Clearly "issue voting" is not a problem only with conservatives or the religious.

Have fun on Tuesday, and as my friend Mike says, "Vote Early, Vote Often!"

Barletta (not Bartlett) for President!

I recently read ANOTHER article (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/31/D8L3PSRG0.html) about the wonderful Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazelton, PA. Does anyone think that he will run for president in 2008? If illegal immigration became a big enough issue, he would be the man to run.