On ABC, now.

West-Coasters should probably not read if they're worried about spoilers.

Though how big a spoiler could be contained in the pilot of a remake of an episodic tv show I don't know.

Let me blow one for you right now: The Visitors are not what they pretend to be.

Posted by: Ace at 04:12 PM | Comments (169)
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No Mas, No Mas: Didn't even go the first round.

Now we look for the sweep of lt. gov and AG, and downticket damage as well. And it looks good there, too, says Major Garrett.

ABCNews called it too.

...

Not too much to say. One word, really: Panic.

Virginia Results! No point checking now, but here's the site for later in the night.

Right now it's a whomp-ass with 66% McDonnell to Deeds' 33%, but that's with... 2% reporting. Means nothing. Still, this race is generally assumed to be in the bag. What is more interesting are the down-ticket races; will Obama be repudiated in everything from the governor's race down to AG down to purely local delegate elections?

more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:00 PM | Comments (317)
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Remember "Angry White Men" in 1994? Peter Jennings' description of a historic, seismic victory by the Republicans thus: "Today the nation had a temper-tantrum" ?

Via Allah, that narrative is back in full force.

Analysis: Anger, frustration fuel Election Day 2009

Notice it's not dissatisfaction with Obama that fuels this election, his broken hopes, his unfinished changes. No, to call it such would by implication lay the blame of this on Darling Leader's precious head.

Instead, chalk it up to only stupid, intemperate, raging anger and frustration, not anger at any particular thing (like Darling Leader and his trillion-dollar-deficits extending from here to eternity), just blind unreasoning rage at the world, not anyone's fault, really, except these ugly hateful twisted potato-slug-like mutants in the photo, who tend to blame everyone else for their own shortcomings.

Subtle.

Prediction: Newspapers carrying the election results on Page One will not, for once, have Darling Leader's smug face on the cover. They will attempt to distance him from this debacle.

Or else the haters will have won.

Posted by: Ace at 02:31 PM | Comments (47)
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Looking Up: Blowout lead among indies:

This seems pretty darn big: In New Jersey, CNN's exit poll says Christie won independents 58-33 over Corzine, with indies making up 27 percent of the electorate.

NJ Results: Very little of the vote in yet.

Big Update of Dubious Provenance : Geraghty is not vouching for this number at all but he's re-tweeting a claim: Corzine and Christie knotted up at 47 apiece, according, supposedly, to leaked exit polls.

...

Turnout Poor In Newark, Other Democratic Strongholds: Corzine needs minorities to turn out enough to make up 20% of voters. It appears unlikely. Although turnout has ticked up in Newark, no one is talking about strong turnout. Even Democratic hands will only predict, wink-wink, a "narrow win."

More on NJ Turnout from Mary Katharine Ham.

...

Pretty damn good news:

In NY-23 despite the presence more or less of two Republican candidates on the ballot, Doug Hoffman is winning 71% of the GOP vote to Bill OwensÂ’ 67% of the Democratic vote. Hoffman leads Owens 52-30 with independents.

In New Jersey Chris Christie is getting 82% of the Republican vote while Jon Corzine is at 72% of the Democratic vote. Christie leads 52-29 with independents. Â…

From the high levels of party unity itÂ’s clear that Republicans voters see the path back to power will require staying on the same page. And whether itÂ’s because the Democrats have bad candidates or theyÂ’re unhappy with President Obama, independents are giving the GOP very high levels of support. It should be the best Republican election night since George W. Bush got reelected.

Christie, though, is not in a good position. He may be getting more of the Republican vote than Corzine is getting of the Democratic vote, but the fact is New Jersey has a lot more Democrats than Republicans. Hopefully doing well with independents will provide votes to put him over the top, but it's going to be near thing: We probably won't know until late tonight or early tomorrow morning.

Whoops! Maybe not (fingers crossed knock wood spit). Turnout in McCain counties in NJ heavy.

I want to preface this by noting that all of this is based only on the early voting, and is based on about a half-dozen polling places in every county in New Jersey; some known as historically Republican districts, some known as historically swing districts, and some known as historically Democratic districts.

A trusted source tells me that as of noon, total turnout in the GOP the swing districts in NJ is significantly outpacing turnout in Democrat districts. The turnout ratio is not quite two to one, but it's not that far from it.

Caveats Geraghty adds: Democrats vote later, etc.

Also, small sample size here.

Still.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff.

Posted by: Ace at 03:55 PM | Comments (397)
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Pulling up the headquarters. Pick by DrewM.

DrewM. At the Hotel: Not his hotel, the hotel where the campaign staff has moved to await the vote tallies -- and hopefully the concession speech of Owens.

Exit Polls! More casting votes to oppose Obama than for him (barely); most important issues in NJ seems to favor Republicans (economy, taxes, corruption; health care comes in fourth. Update at Allah.

Meantime, Drew just sent me a new vid.

New Vids: Hoffman on the Tea-Party Movement.

DrewM really went beyond the call of duty to smuggle himself into Hoffman's headquarters.

He has no updates yet, but I'll let you know when he does.

Update: Drew spoke to Rob Ryan, who identifies himself as the press guy for the campaign. Turnout is strong in the areas they want it to be, down by Syracuse and other blue collar areas. After work, it has been picking up, and it had already been solid.

Putting a lot of faith in independents, based on polls.

The mood is upbeat, but still determined and businesslike. They are not acting as if this is in the bag, nor telegraphing confidence that they have this in the bag.

Getting a lot of calls from around the country from conservative activists who have supported him. One guy in Pennsylvania promises he'll be putting up a billboard hailing the defeat of the socialist in New York. One guy drove in from Vermont and has been working the phones all day.

I always liked when reporters would report the mood of a headquarters, usually in a wink-wink way of revealing what the embargoed exit poll data said. I pressed Drew to tell me the Hoffman camp was "confident" but he preferred upbeat, determined, and businesslike. Drat. I wanted that "confident" quote.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:12 PM | Comments (282)
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Welcome all morons and moronettes. I guess the ONT will be your playground tonight as we wait for the final election results to come in.

Oh and just a reminder: Tomorrow is FLAMEWAR Night!
So be prepared to bring teh hatred and spite which has been building up these many months.

Morons, Want a Happy Marriage? Then Marry a Younger, Smarter Woman With Curves.
Hey - it's science.

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:15 PM | Comments (372)
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Remember, though, the media is only interested in "concern-trolling," as Allah called it, the "civil war" in the Republican Party between the pragmatists and the maximalists.

The Democrats are still as united as ever.

MoveOn.org is sending out emails today seeking more contributions for its campaign to defeat any Democratic senator who does not fully support Obamacare. Yesterday the left-wing activist group asked members to contribute "to a primary challenge against any Democratic senator who helps Republicans block an up-or-down vote on health care reform." Today, MoveOn reports that it has received $2 million in pledges in less than 24 hours. "It's a clear sign of how angry progressives would be at any Democrat who helps filibuster reform," MoveOn executive director Justin Ruben writes in the new email.

"The larger the war chest we can offer a potential challenger, the stronger the signal we'll send to conservative Democrats," Ruben continues. "So we're setting a huge new goal: $3 million in total pledges by the end of the week. That's plenty to launch a serious primary challenge."

Byron York notes the media's "concern" of a "nightmare scenario" like this for Republicans, while failing to notice that this has been going on, and continues going on, in the Democratic Party, without any apparent "nightmarish" consequences.

Posted by: Ace at 10:46 AM | Comments (265)
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This continues to be a major point of contention on blogs, with long threads bursting out whenever the topic is brought up.

I thought maybe I would try again to address this.

Sorry; I posted an unfinished version of this earlier, by accident. To be honest, it still isn't "finished;" it is merely abandoned, as they say. I give up in writing it. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:09 AM | Comments (378)
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As the one (almost) guaranteed blowout win unfolds, Dems scramble for talkiing points even as they misplace the president's events calendar.

Gee, whatever did the Democrats do to give these crazy rightwingers the impression that Virginia was a referendum on Obama?

Posted by: Ace at 08:43 AM | Comments (215)
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"What do you think a stimulus is? It’s spending — that's the whole point! Seriously.”

Here's what Obama thinks a stimulus is:

- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.

- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.

- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.

- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.

- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.

- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.

- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.

- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.

The administration pointed to the recently released GDP number for proof that the stimulus worked, but it's a tough sell since even MSNBC is questioning its validity as a yardstick for economic recovery.

Still, we can't say we weren't warned.

Posted by: Slublog at 07:18 AM | Comments (203)
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