ELECTION NIGHT: slogging, snogging, blogging

11:44: It started out like an itch we couldn't  scratch- like we were coming down with something we couldn't get back up. Squirming like a virgin on a hay wagon, it was unsettling-a squirreliness untypical of our advanced age. After some meditation, some therapeutic kuken, anthe realization hit us: it's the feeling of winning.

11:25: Some guy just phoned into KIRO and said the counting delay down at the courthouse was because  of an overabundance of absetee voters who brought their ballots to polling places. Sounds good to us, but of course, Dori remains skeptical.

11:09: King County Elections Department is way behind in their count. There's much speculatin' about this by Dave Ross, Dori Monson, and political pro John Arthur Wilson who has joined them. "If they announce so late that they suddenly found some votes for Darcy, "Said Dori. "there's going to be a firestorm of outrage." Sweet jesus, spare us another one of those!

11:07: Dave Ross's scrappy daughter, Caitlin Ross, with 40.3534% lost her tough race in the 9th legislative district to Republican Steve Hailey's 59.6466%.

10:40: "I figure we should actually know in a couple of weeks who actually won in the 8th district." Darcy Burner, down 2700 or so votes is addressing her supporters in Bellevue. the votes from Pierce county has just been posted, there are still a couple of hundred thousand votes out there. We don't know exactly from whence they are due, but they're trickling in. the Reichert/Burner race was a surprisingly close considering that the incumbent Reichert is a wannabe icon in the county, as former sheriff and self-appointed "hero." He turned out to be a great-looking but middling candidate who, for the last few weeks, was relegated to chasing around the media outlets putting out fires that Darcy had set in his magnificent head of hair. She came out of nowhere with a Harvard education; a quick and well-informed mind; a pretty good resume, and great communication skills and brought herself to the forefront of the campaign.
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10:15: "So a moment ago I participated in one of the great traditions in this democracy, and that is when you know you lost, you call the winner and congratulate them. So I called Maria Cantwell and congratulated her on her next term in the Senate." ~ Mike McGavick
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9:40: GOP Designated Liar Stefan Sharkansky just pontificated on KIRO that the reason Susan Owens is winning handily in the Supreme Court race is because "when voters don't understand the issues, they vote for the incumbent." How pompous. The width and breadth of the win by Democrats and progressive issues in the state would fly in the face of that elitest theory. I-933, the horrible "property rights initiative is dead;  I-920, The Blethen's anti-estate tax initiative has been flushed by voters; and the energy bil I-937 is ahead. All that would belie Sharkansky's specious theory. (Gawd, it must be hard to be a Republican around here).

9:30: There's no joy in the right-wing Mudville: CNN PROJECTS 31 SEAT MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE!

8:50: Medved, Sytman and Boze are discussing on KTTH why Republicans are in such a mess in Washington. Poor candidates, starting with Ellen Craswell, us seen as the problem. It's wonderful listening to these guys for once honest talking about the losers they've nominated in the past- including George Nethercutt, John Carlson. "If they can go Republican in Massachusetts, for gosh sakes, we should be able to do something like that in Washington," Said Dave Boze. The pachyderm sitting in the studio with the boyz:  is the most unpopular president since Nixon. (Author's note: hee, hee).

8:32: MARIA CANTWELL HAS WON REELECTION! wasn't a long night for the Squeaky One.
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8:30: Say your prayers: Darcy Burner: 21,620; Dave Reichert 21,421
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8:16: "In all the wrong places, people will be celebrating tonight." ~ Michael Medved
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8:02: THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TAKEN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES!
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7:55: I saw Dave Reichert drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.
His hair was perfect.
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7:44: It's live and local now on KIRO: Dori Monson, the puerile neocon sportscaster is busy poo-pooing Darcy Burner. "Completely unqualified." I didn't see anything on her inflated resume."

Stuff we never knew: Dave Ross and Darcy sat down at Tully's a few months after Dave's 2004 loss to Reichert and did the "what do you want to do? OK, what do you want to do?" The results of that conversation, of course was Darcy's run at the 8th district.

Will there be any bitterness if she wins? asked the prissy, trouble-making little Dori, (hoping to project his own adolescence onto The Dave). "No, said Dave- "She worked her tail off for it. Dave's a fan: it's a great story, he said, how Darcy Burner came out of nowhere; was so impressive raising money; and made it such a competitive race.

Dave broached the subject of Ron Reagan running for the 7th District seat if Jim Mcdermott retires. Reagan never said no, never said yes. (we're thinkin' maybe he shouldn't wait until McD retires...)
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6:32: Theological question for the night...Has God forsaken Rick Santorum or was She never on board in the first place?

Republican Linc Chafee is a loser in Rhode Island, according to MSNBC.

Independents are breaking for Democrats: 58% to 38%, according to CBS.

David Postman is blogging at The Stranger's party at the Spitfire in Belltown. They're drinking "Maria Cantwells" (Absolut Citron, blue Curacao and lime juice; shaken, served with a cherry). Postman may or may not be partaking. We're noting he's dropping a few more prepositions from his posts than usual.

A troll is making Cantwell jokes on the Postman blog "...the drink sounds sour, and I know the cherry doesn't apply anymore." Stupid joke- only unmarried Republican women are virgins at her age- but we did think the Spitfire was appropriate for the Senator. 
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5:35p: Be still my heart.

The east coast and midwest numbers are sneaking out, the water is lapping sweetly on the shore, no tsunami in sight, but we're scanning the horizon.

CBS just called Rick "man-on-dog" Santorum a loser in Pennsylvania against Bob Casey, predicted, but nonetheless deeply satisfying for progressives.

But yes, CNN just called the Ohio governorship for Democrat Ted Strickland over Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a particularly delicious result, though not unexpected. Blackwell was the Katherine Harris of 2004 who molested the system and delivered the election for his Republican masters. He ran a virulently awful right-wing campaign that got more desperate as he lost.

The bodacious floozy, Ms Harris just lost big herself to Bill Nelson. She was a love bunny to Blatherers, but we hope, frankly we never see her again unless on it's on Extreme Remakeover.

Comments

[Dana]

I can't wait for 1 o'clock today so I can listen to Dori whine.

I was listening a little last night and it's always so amusing to hear him try to hold his own when he's surrounded by people who are smarter than him. Very funny.

[Dana]

I can't wait for 1 o'clock today so I can listen to Dori whine.

I was listening a little last night and it's always so amusing to hear him try to hold his own when he's surrounded by people who are smarter than him. Very funny.

[JDB]

2008 will be interesting.

The Republicans left in the house are going to be more extreme. But now they won't be able to throw pork at their districts to keep the voters distracted. 2008 could be a major tipping point.

Add to that Democratic control of the Governorships, and we are looking at a very different playing field in '08 than we have had in 12 years.

All that being said, the Democrats need to lead. There needs to be real reform (congressional, lobbyist and campaign), and they need to show that they can make things work.

There should be investigations so we know the truth behind the Bush administration and what the Congressional Republicans have done, but forget about impeachment unless you can show that the president or vice-president totally ignored the Consitution. This should not be about revenge, but good leadership.

Finally, lets not be like the Republicans and demand ideological purity and that everything be done tomorrow. The margin in the Senate is slim, and you need 60 votes anyway to really get things done. Add to that that most of the Democratic pick ups are moderates to conservatives. This is not a revolution but an evolution. Let's show everyone what can be done with good leadership, and we can put this country on the righ track and strenghten the Democratic party.

[JDB]

So far Talk Radio has been fun. Rush is in complete denial (Conservatism wins where ever it is tried..., Tell that to Rick Santorum). The 'taters have been interesting, but I've only ducked in on them since the big guy going through meltdown is so much fun (where are those oxycontin when you need them?).

I just wish that Medved and Hannity were not on at the same time. Medved was in denial all last night (its the media's fault was constant on KTTH), but Hannity must be in pure panic mode by now. I expect his head to explode by the fifth time he has to say "Speaker Pelosi."

[coiler]

Pelosi cant or won't lead any investigations, it's sad and James Baker and Co are still running the war. The only good thing is the europeans are probably going to charge RedRumsfeld with war crimes in their courts.

[lukobe]

Gerrymandering sucks.

Rumsfeld charged with war crimes in European courts? Might happen, but he'll never stand trial...

[sparky]

I dont believe for a minute that Rush is sad...he gets two years to bash Dems for breathing wrong.
If the country went totally conservative, Cyst-Boy would be out of a job.

[Fremont]

FABULOUS REPORTING...educational and entertaining! Kudos to Bla'M, Nate and acolytes....

[joanie]

Lukobe - not the first time you've misread a post.

don't you think it was kind of stunning the Libertarian beat the Green in King County?

No. Not if you know anything about Dixon.

[mercifurious]

Gerrymandering sucks.

Yeah, but it has always been a political reality. Now it is a LEGAL reality.

WA Dems need to wake up to that political reality & start carvin' some 8th District turkey.

Thanks Fremont (& thanks Bla'M too)

[joanie]

I don't understand it, Nate, but talk today indicated that the gerrymandering hurt the Republicans in several areas.

[lukobe]

joanie wrote:

Lukobe - not the first time you've misread a post.

Nor the first time you've posted something unclear.

"don't you think it was kind of stunning the Libertarian beat the Green in King County?"

No. Not if you know anything about Dixon.

I know plenty about Dixon--I guess I underestimated the local electorate's intelligence.

Mercifurious wrote:

"Gerrymandering sucks."

Yeah, but it has always been a political reality. Now it is a LEGAL reality. WA Dems need to wake up to that political reality & start carvin' some 8th District turkey.

I see your point--but of course that will help make it so that it will never, ever go away. Looks like the corrupt two-party system is going to get fossilized--what I don't get is why, if there are so many people that are disgusted with it, enough people can't stand up for what is right and actually do something about it. Oh well. I am quite disillusioned about the political process, let me tell you, even though the election basically went the way I wanted.

[lukobe]

(given the lame choices we had.)

[joanie]

Lukobe: or the first time you've posted something unclear.

Oh, the PutS defense.

[carlos]

Take a siesta, Lukobe. You're outmatched.

[Tommy008]

A little bird told me that Republican creep neighbor of mine down at the marina, made an appearance at the Marina corner grocery this morning, picked up a Seattle Times and slammed it down in anger. He then fumed and ranted to the store clerk about his hero Rumsfeld being fired.bwaHHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAAH Creep.

[mercifurious]

Lukobe on gerrymandering:
I see your point--but of course that will help make it so that it will never, ever go away.

Hey, we're on the same page on this one. I never said I liked it - yes, it totally sucks.

But here's the dilemma & catch-22:

You & I both know that the GOP will never give up gerrymandering as a strategy. If the Dems decide to "play nice" and stop gerrymandering, the GOP will not see this as a "Peace Treaty" - this will only encourage them to do it more.

Again, gerrymandering has always been a political reality (like it or not). Now that it's legal strategy, Dems can't "play nice" & pretend that the GOP will do the same.

[lukobe]

Joanie: Huh?
Carlos: Puh-leeze.
Mercifurious: Of course. I wonder if the Dems couldn't use this opportunity to outlaw the practice, though. (But why would they do anything to reduce their own power?)