Polls Are Closing - Election Results Thread

[Blackjack]

So if 60 different Senators had been willing to agree on something then the GOP would have had no blocking power.

Great. Considering that rarely happens in reality then we can safely say that the GOP this entire time has possessed the ability to block legislation and has used that ability to do just that.

You should not accuse someone else of using a talking point if you're doing that exact thing, Blackjack. You can safely acknowledge what GOP leaders have for the past 2 years: their plan was to be obstructionist all the way. It worked, why are you hiding from it? Shame?

It's a fact. It's pure numbers, that's all.

If the Dems were on the same page and the policies and agenda items they had were deemed to be good and helpful to the people and country as a whole, they had the means to pass whatever the they wanted.

Just because something "never" happens doesn't mean the minority is the obstructionist. The fight's within whomever is the majority at the time, not the minority.

What kind of Republican support did they get for health-care?

[MannyIsGod]

Notice a keyword in your posts Blackjack. If.

I'm not denying that if the Democrats were one solidified voting bloc in the Senate it wouldn't have mattered what the GOP did or didn't do.

Now, we come back to reality where thats not the case. Each Senator has one vote regardless of party affiliation. The GOP's stated plan was to be obstructionist. They were. They didn't try to solve any problems through legislation. They played politics the entire two years with a goal of making sure to pass no legislation and to prevent legislation from being passed.

There's nothing to debate when party leaders come out and say they are going to obstruct and then do so. That they could have been prevented had the planets aligned is irrelevant.

[MannyIsGod]

More Nate Silver:

2:38 A.M. Math Favors Murray in Washington
The Washington Senate race is a tricky one and we may not know the winner for several days -- after more mail ballots have been counted. But Patty Murray, the Democrat, is favored to hold on to her seat. Seattle's King County, which had been slightly overrepresented earlier in the night, is now somewhat underrepresented instead with 55 percent of its vote counted compared with about 70 percent elsewhere in the state. An extrapolation of county-by-county results would have Ms. Murray eventually winning by about 1.5 points; she leads by 1 point now.

[MannyIsGod]

@fivethirtyeight
Nate Silver
The Oregon governor race is gonna be really close. A county-by-country extrapolation would give it to Kitzhaber by <1 point.

hahahahahahahhahahahahaha suck it WC

[Blackjack]

Notice a keyword in your posts Blackjack. If.

I'm not denying that if the Democrats were one solidified voting bloc in the Senate it wouldn't have mattered what the GOP did or didn't do.

Now, we come back to reality where thats not the case. Each Senator has one vote regardless of party affiliation. The GOP's stated plan was to be obstructionist. They were. They didn't try to solve any problems through legislation. They played politics the entire two years with a goal of making sure to pass no legislation and to prevent legislation from being passed.

There's nothing to debate when party leaders come out and say they are going to obstruct and then do so. That they could have been prevented had the planets aligned is irrelevant.

I don't make a point to stick up for politicians or either of these two parties. I've never affiliated myself with either. They both play the same bull games, find their own talking points, keywords and phrases, and so on.

Fact of the matter is, the reason you don't usually see things jammed through when the opportunity arises is because they're not rulers but public servants. They often don't remember that until their ass is on the line for the next election, but it usually dons on them around that time.

So if either party's intention was to just do what they believe was in the best interests of their cons uents and get things done, they would. They wouldn't be calling the minority obstructionists because those obstructionists would find themselves becoming insignificant with each passing election.

It's a simple game of cat and mouse, the sole purpose being to maintain power.

[MannyIsGod]

I don't know why you think obstructionism will cost someone an election considering what you just witnessed tonight. If you're obstructionist and you're not held accountable then you lose nothing.

Welcome to the 2010 general election.

[Wild Cobra]

More Nate Silver:

2:38 A.M. Math Favors Murray in Washington
The Washington Senate race is a tricky one and we may not know the winner for several days -- after more mail ballots have been counted. But Patty Murray, the Democrat, is favored to hold on to her seat. Seattle's King County, which had been slightly overrepresented earlier in the night, is now somewhat underrepresented instead with 55 percent of its vote counted compared with about 70 percent elsewhere in the state. An extrapolation of county-by-county results would have Ms. Murray eventually winning by about 1.5 points; she leads by 1 point now.

Yes, she leads by 0.98% of the vote so far with 62% reporting.

However, you may be right. With the way King County elections officials cheated in 2008, if the same thing happens again, Rossi will lose. I think it's being closely watched this time though.

@fivethirtyeight
Nate Silver
The Oregon governor race is gonna be really close. A county-by-country extrapolation would give it to Kitzhaber by <1 point.

hahahahahahahhahahahahaha suck it WC

I find that hard to believe. With 85% in, Dudley Doright is over Kitzhaber by 1.6%.

[EricB]

I think its crazy that Maine, Florida's GOV races have not been completed yet.

[BlairForceDejuan]

Boxer won

But at least Grayson has to GTFO.

[Crookshanks]

I think its crazy that Maine, Florida's GOV races have not been completed yet.

Florida was called about 30 minutes ago. Scott won - and since Sink conceded, it doesn't look like there will be a recount.

[TheProfessor]

Boxer won

But at least Grayson has to GTFO.

Grayson's gone, but Bachmann stays, and will probably run for the #3 position in the House. Good God.

[DarrinS]

I can't believe these bags remain in office:

Boxer
Reid
Barney Frank

At least Grayson got his ass handed to him.

[Crookshanks]

The Tea-Party backed Republican has won the governorship in Maine.

[Wild Cobra]

I can't believe these bags remain in office:

Boxer
Reid
Barney Frank

At least Grayson got his ass handed to him.

I think we need to look into the voting machines programming before anyone can restore the original programs.

[Spursmania]

I think we need to look into the voting machines programming before anyone can restore the original programs.

Damn right. Still a phenomenal night! Don't let the door hit you in the Ass Pelosi.

[Wild Cobra]

Damn right. Still a phenomenal night! Don't let the door hit you in the Ass Pelosi.

Liberals kept harping on the fallacy of the machines. Why can't we get their support on checking them out now?

[Spursmania]

Liberals kept harping on the fallacy of the machines. Why can't we get their support on checking them out now?

We know the answer to that: UNIONS

[Nbadan]

Unions?

[Blackjack]

I don't know why you think obstructionism will cost someone an election considering what you just witnessed tonight. If you're obstructionist and you're not held accountable then you lose nothing.

Welcome to the 2010 general election.

Because the electorate was voting against the in bent. And if the new House majority doesn't produce any legislation or show any great effort to be legitimate public servants and tackle the spending and size of government issues that led them to reject the policies of this president and his party, they'll be voted out and replaced by people that will get elected on a platform that calls them out for not doing so -- forcing them to address the issues or be a one-term servant.

In that regard, I'm somewhat encouraged with the outcome. Maybe after a few election cycles we'll actually have the type of representation one can respect and even find admirable -- the problem isn't Democrat or Republican, it's with the people that inhabit the parties.

It's easy to find arguments for issues and policies, there will always be philosophical disagreements, but it's hard for me to find much disagreement that Democratic and Republican leadership has been inept, corrupt and anything but public servants for a long while now. The nation as a whole hasn't held them accountable. Hopefully the electorate will stay as involved as it has been recently.

Because in the end, if you're asleep at the wheel and allow the same old-same old to keep going on, you kinda get what you deserve.