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Official NeoGAF US Mid-term Elections 2006 Thread

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C

Cheebs

Member
santtocry.gif
 
L

Learn2read

Member
joeposh said:
Even if he hadn't, I don't think we would have been likely to see a ton of investigations by the congress. This seems to be a smarter, strategic Democratic party that has its eye on '08. For that reason, they're not going to make the same mistakes that the Republican controlled Congress made during the Clinton era. Will they criticize the President? Of course. Will there be investigations of this administrations dealings? I'm almost certain there will be (especially on energy policy), but they're not going to dig for dirt under every rock, they'll hit areas they know the American people will be in favor of and look to present themselves as the sensible, get things done party instead of a bunch of angry liberals. Thus setting them up well for the next election cycle..
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No matter what investigations they conduct, the media is going to draw false comparisions to the Clinton Era, where the Republicans literally had free rein to sniff every trivial aspect of the Clinton White House, for example:

Paul Krugman said:
The current Congress has shown no inclination to investigate the Bush administration. Last year The Boston Globe offered an illuminating comparison: when Bill Clinton was president, the House took 140 hours of sworn testimony into whether Mr. Clinton had used the White House Christmas list to identify possible Democratic donors. But in 2004 and 2005, a House committee took only 12 hours of testimony on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
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Watch for the Democrats to investigate such trivial matters as how and why we went to war and watch the media wail about how the Democrats are on a Witch Hunt, even though such accountability is the exact ****ing reason the Democrats were elected. Especially when they ate up every Clinton scandal the Republicans gave them and asked for more.
 
P

perryfarrell

Member
The journalists didn't pull punches indeed!

One question for Bush during today's press conference was, 'Nancy Pelosi has called you a liar, incompetent, and the emperor with no clothes.. Do you think you can work with her?'

(Probably already discussed, pretty funny though.)
 
C

chaostrophy

Member
jgkspsx said:
The thing is, in practice, there's very little difference between the Democrats and Republicans on the moral issues the religious right really cares about.
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No, there is a significant difference. Most Dems are pro-choice, and many support civil unions for gays, etc.

While the term "neocon" is sometimes used to refer to socially liberal hawks like Christopher Hitchens, it has also long been used to refer to followers of the political philosopher Leo Strauss. Strauss was very fixated on the concept of hedonism and how it would decay society, much like the religious right. He also advanced the concept of "noble lies", basically that leaders pushing scientifically incorrect information on the populace can be a good thing if it could lead to a more moral society. That's exactly what the religious right and the Bush admin have done with sex ed.

I actually expect that the results of this election will change the government's action more on domestic social issues than it will change the war effort. Dems may constantly criticize Bush's handling of the war, but still seem to believe in the possibility of the US creating a real democracy in Iraq through military force...something that will never, ever happen. But with control of the legislature, the Dems should be able to reverse some of the extremist social agenda that the Repubs have pushed through the past 6 years.
 
A

APF

Member
Noble lies and deadly truths
Strauss noted that thinkers of the first rank, going back to Plato, had raised the problem of whether good and effective politicians could be completely truthful and still achieve the necessary ends of their society. By implication, Strauss asks his readers to consider whether "noble lies" have any role at all to play in uniting and guiding the polis. Are "myths" needed to give people meaning and purpose and to ensure a stable society? Or can men and women dedicated to relentlessly examining, in Nietzsche's language, those "deadly truths", flourish freely? Thus, is there a limit to the political, and what can be known absolutely? In The City and Man, Strauss discusses the myths outlined in Plato's Republic that are required for all governments. These include a belief that the state's land belongs to it even though it was likely acquired illegitimately, and that citizenship is rooted in something more than the accidents of birth. Strauss has been interpreted as endorsing "noble lies;" myths used by political leaders seeking to maintain a cohesive society.
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From Strauss' Wikipedia entry, a slightly different interpretation.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
The VA race should be wrapped up soon.

November 08, 2006
Republicans Will Pressure Allen... Soon

Top Republicans in Washington will give Sen. George Allen a few days to take stock of his legal and political options before beginning to pressure him to concede to James Webb. Senior Republican officials and White House aides believe that Webb won the race. Several outside advisers to Allen want him to make the decision quickly; others in his campaign want to make sure that there's no chance a cache of new votes will turn up. One question: when will (will?) the AP call the race? [MARC AMBINDER]
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T

Triumph

Banned
Game. Set. MATCH.

I've got to hand it to the Dems- they actually pulled it off. I would have liked to see Lieberman get the boot, but oh well, I'm so giddy at GOP minorities in both houses right now that I'm going to promise to Joe that it will be at LEAST a week before I hate him again.

I don't know how the Presidential election will shake out (pretty much, the Dems will lose if they're dumb enough to nominate Hilary, should win otherwise), but I expect some more pick ups in both houses in '08. Burn, mother****ers, burn! This puts me in mind of sometime in November 2000, when I told one of my friends, "You know, if this half-bright cowboy dipshit actually gets the Presidency, it will be the death of the modern Republican party as we know it, so I guess just be patient if the court gives him the election."

Who's laughing now, mother****ers?
 
C

Chichikov

Member
Woot!

No, not quite, I meant -
WOOT!

Actually more like -
[Huge Ass Freedom Font Blinking with Joy]WOOT!!![/Huge Ass Freedom Font Blinking with Joy]
There we go.

And now, let me switch to Fox News to gloat.
No, I’m not too proud of it.
But man, got a lot of anger to work through.
And please, bring that bitch Coulter.
 
L

Learn2read

Member
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/8/191048/981

This was posted a while ago, it looks like it's been clear that it's been over for a while.

The procedure for recounts with DRE (direct-recording electronic) machines is as follows, per Va. Code Ann. § 24.2-802(D)(3):


For . . . direct recording electronic machines (DREs), the recount officials shall open the envelopes with the printouts and read the results from the printouts. If the printout is not clear, or on the request of the court, the recount officials shall rerun the printout from the machine or examine the counters as appropriate.
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For optical scan machines, the procedure is specified by Va. Code Ann. § 24.2-802(D)(4):


For optical scan tabulators, the recount officials shall first examine the printout to redetermine the vote. Only if the printout is not clear, or on the request of the court, the recount officials shall rerun all the ballots through a tabulator programmed to count only the votes for the office or issue in question in the recount and to set aside all ballots containing write-in votes, overvotes, and undervotes. The ballots that are set aside, any ballots not accepted by the tabulator, and any ballots for which a tabulator could not be programmed to meet the programming requirements of this subdivision, shall be hand counted using the standards promulgated by the State Board pursuant to subsection A.
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Yes. You read it right. Nobody touches a ballot. All they do is check the totals to make sure they got it right the first time (on election night) and the second time (during the canvass). Only if they can't read the receipt they've already printed out do they make the machines do anything over again.

To recap: The whole state is DREs and op scans. They check the printout on election night and report the totals. The totals are then rechecked during the canvass. All a "recount" does is check the receipt that's already been checked twice. This is why, in the Attorney General recount last year, only 27 votes changed in the recount -- and that was before every single precinct in the state had op scans or DREs.

A recount in Virginia doesn't "recount" anything. It just verifies the totals that have already been verified twice. The chance of anything being changed is nearly nil.

A recount won't get George Allen 7,000 votes.

Thus, this puppy is just about over. Allen's people surely know this. It's time for the media to realize it.

Say hello to Senator-Elect Jim Webb, and, additionally, Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Update -- the provisionals are trickling in. A typical number: 4 provisional ballots counted in a jurisdiction that had over 8,000 votes in the unofficial last night. Stick a fork in Macaca. He's done.
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Yeah, it's done.


HUZZZZAH!!!!!!
 
B

Brannon

Member
Cheebs said:
I love Durbin's face in this picture(guy on the right). It is so "I am soooo ready to kick some ass." :lol

Reid%20Closed%20Session-thumb.jpg
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A person with photoshop skills could make so many "I AM ALL POWERFUL" pics out of this. It's so perfect.
 
Z

Zeed

Banned
Cheebs said:
I love Durbin's face in this picture(guy on the right). It is so "I am soooo ready to kick some ass." :lol

Reid%20Closed%20Session-thumb.jpg
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Needs more "Abortion Time!" caption.

"Resistance Is Futile" will work too.
 
F

FightyF

Banned
Wow, I just found out Rumsfeld resigned. That's good news for Americans! There has been a lot of damage already done, and I feel sorry for whoever has to clean up his mess, though.

This whole election has been good for Americans. You have a good number of radicals and extremists voted out, and a greater diversity of people voted in...it's a step in the right direction after 6 years of ass-backwards-ness.
 
D

Diablos

Member
Yesterday I figured there wouldn't be a chance in hell they'd get more than 3-4 seats in the Senate.

This... this is great. An assured six years (opposed to only two for the House which is kinda nuts) is a good thing. Of course, Republicans could try and take some seats back in 2008 :p
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Fight for Freeform said:
Wow, I just found out Rumsfeld resigned. That's good news for Americans! There has been a lot of damage already done, and I feel sorry for whoever has to clean up his mess, though.

This whole election has been good for Americans. You have a good number of radicals and extremists voted out, and a greater diversity of people voted in...it's a step in the right direction after 6 years of ass-backwards-ness.
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Now if only he would be indicted on various charge, and now somehow I am watching Larry King.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Diablos said:
This... this is great. An assured six years (opposed to only two for the House which is kinda nuts) is a good thing. Of course, Republicans could try and take some seats back in 2008 :p
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No, another third of the senate is up for election in 2 years. :p
 
S

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
big question - how much credit will Dean and his 50-state strategy get for this massive turnaround?

that the DNC now have a foothold in what has been solid 'red' states the last few election cycles is tremendous, and will likely pay huge dividends for the next election cycle. for fellow political scientists, i guess the biggest question over the next few years (decade even?) is whether 2006 serves as a classic repudiating election, or one that signals a realignment of power for years to come.
 
D

Diablos

Member
Larry King sucks. Did you see him interview McCain?

"ARE YOU RUNNING?" McCain's like "I don't know Larry!" The tone of his response was very "shut the **** up" though :lol
 
C

Cheebs

Member
Diablos said:
Yesterday I figured there wouldn't be a chance in hell they'd get more than 3-4 seats in the Senate.

This... this is great. An assured six years (opposed to only two for the House which is kinda nuts) is a good thing. Of course, Republicans could try and take some seats back in 2008 :p
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Remember one reason why senate was so hard. It was lopsided. A LOT of democratic seats were up but very few republican. Meaning in 08 much less dem's will have seats with elections but a lot of republicans will.

:)
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Diablos said:
Larry King sucks. Did you see him interview McCain?

"ARE YOU RUNNING?" McCain's like "I don't know Larry!" The tone of his response was very "shut the **** up" though :lol
Click to expand...

Nobody lobs softer balls then the King.
 
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