The Day — A Live Blog

Live Blogging Election Day 2006

I overslept. A squirrel has eaten a goodly portion of our Halloween pumpkin. Overnight brought a cold rain. L’il Otis is suffering from some odd malady that makes it difficult to sleep and even harder to be awake. Huge decisisons, both personal and societal, are on the verge of being made. It all sounds horrible, but something has bouyed my spirits. Today means something.

Yesterday, I suffered a mild panic attack in the middle of a Publix grocery store. I almost left my shopping cart in the middle of an aisle and left. Instead, I finished my shopping, came home, and laid on the couch with the kid. I ended up going to bed earlier than usual. It was like I knew today was going to be important. I kept thinking about what happened at the supermarket, leaving my shopping cart, I don’t really know why I went, I usally do my shopping online using shoppok and similar.

Ten minutes ago, I told the wife, “I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but there’s been a shift.”

Today is the day for everything, I think. So, I’m going to live blog it. Follow along if you like. Or don’t.

11:00am–I bought beer yesterday. Some Sam Adams thing. In retrospect, I’m not sure I bought enough. Regardless, I just took a ten-year-old bottle of Dom and put it in the fridge to chill. I’ve had the bottle for almost two years and had no good reason to drink it. I’m hoping that I’ll pop the cork later tonight. Don’t ask me why. I’m not even sure. Like I said, I think there’s a shift on the way. Speaking of shifts, my kid is trying to insist he’s the female character on a cartoon he sometimes watches. When we try to convince him that he’s a boy character, he protests, “No, I’m June!” While not necessarily the kind of shift I was hoping for, I’m not going to freak out quite yet. After all, there’s always the beer.

11:39am–I’ve now showered, caffeinated myself, and re-read the local voter’s guide. I’ve also laughed at the first comment I got on this post. I love absurdism. Here in a few minutes, I’m going to hop in Emilio and drive up to the polls. To be fair, our local elections aren’t much to get excited about in terms of the candidates. I’ll be voting against my Congressman because he supported the people who have turned my life upside down. Unfortunately, there’s no candidate that can really beat him. I’ll be voting Green in this race. I’ll also be voting for a couple of friends who are running for local and state races, one of whom stands no chance at winning. The only thing that really has my dander up is a collection of Constitutional amendments. I’ll be voting NO on an amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. I’ll be voting YES on an amendment that keeps government from using eminent domain to take property that will ultimately go to private developers.

12:22pm–It’s a misty rain outside, not enough to soak you, but enough to make you feel damp when you get back inside. It’s a short drive to my precinct. It takes me down a road called Nature Trail, through a tunnel of orange and yellow deciduous trees, and to a middle school that has been renovated since I last voted. Walking in, a girl in a Buckeye’s fleece hands me a yellow explainer sheet on the multitude of Constitutional amendments. I step in the L-Z line and a white-haired lady checks my drivers license against the voter rolls. I’m put in a ten-deep line that mirrors the ten-deep line on the other side of the room. The room is made up of people from 20 to 80 years old. There’s a cute blonde with her husand in the A-K line. There’s a 45-ish woman wearing tight jeans in the front of my line. A tired-looking guy in my line has his two kids with him. They are well-behaved and that makes me happy. There’s a guy two in front of me that I know that I know, but I can’t place him. He has a southern man’s moustache and looks at me like he knows me, too. We don’t speak.

It takes me 13 minutes to make it to the front of the line. By this time, I’ve decided the woman in tight jeans should give it up and start wearing loose-fitting clothes. I’ve re-read the amendments explainer. I’ve read the menu for the middle schooler’s lunch (hamburgers or chicken fingers). I’ve kept a wary eye on the old couple that stepped into line behind me. The man is quietly sneering at the electronic voting machines. He refuses to look at a book that explains how to use the machines and groueses a little bit more. When it’s my turn to vote, I’m led to my machine. The woman who voted before me didn’t follow the instructions and, while she has cast her vote, she didn’t complete the process to submit her electronic ballot. The poll worker who led me to the machine calls over another poll worker. She says, “It takes two of us, right?” I assume this means there is a protocol for these situations. Together, they submit the ballot. I feel like I should be uneasy about what happened, but I’m not so much. While it’s frightening that it happened, I kept an eye out and nothing nefarious happened. The ballot went through. I tried to forget my screening of “Hacking Democracy.”

Aside: CNN just broadcast video of my governor, Mark Sanford (a good guy whom I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to many times), being turned away from his polling place for forgetting his voter registration card. What’s funny is that I was only required to show my drivers license. Sanford is a recognizable face, especially in the small community in which he lives. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.

I vote quickly, having memorized my voting guide. Our state attorney general, a man I dislike a great deal, is unopposed in his race. Rather than skip the vote, I decided to cast a write-in vote for BadBlood. He has some good ideas about putting the smackdown on the bad guys.

I return my yellow explainer sheet to the girl in the Buckeye’s fleece. She asks me if I want a sticker. I say “yes,” and smile. She peels the “I voted” sticker off a large roll. I reach out to take it from her, but she looks me squarely in the eye and puts the sticker on the right side of my chest with a firm push. Somewhere in my head, I assign some greater meaning to that moment and walk back out into the rain.

12:49pm–C.J., living proof that I can be good friends with right-wingers, has accused me of stealing his live-blog idea. He failed to notice this portion of yesterday’s post, in which I explained the evolution of my political thinking:

Tuesday night is normally reserved for dinner and cards with my buddies. As I have plans to that effect later in the week, I’m bowing out of our normal routine. Instead, I think I’ll sit here, watch the returns, and maybe even live blog our country’s greatest pot hole potential.

What this actually proves is that C.J. and I, while different colors in the politcal spectrum, think alike in many respects. I encourage you to keep up with him over at Up For Anything.

Also, Absinthe and RJ have already indicated they’ll be hijacking the comments of this post to comment on how the day is going. I invite all of you to do the same. If I can’t sit in a bar with my friends and live this day to the end, I might as well do it here.

My wife just walked out the door to go vote. She wore a shirt that read, “GEEK” across her chest. “I’m going to cast my rainbow,” is what I think she said as she walked out. Even if I misunderstood what she said, I really like it.

1:17pm–The wife has just returned from voting. She’s worked up a rant about the handicap voting procedures (which, admittedly, are lacking in good sense). While she had no idea I cast my vote for BadBlood in the state Attorney General’s race, she apparently had much the same idea and cast a write-in vote for our local police chief, Willie Johnson (seen left).

To kill time, the wife and I are periodicallly checking in on a trial we’ve been watching on Court TV in which a garbage man is either being railroaded or not in the death of a fashion writer. The trial was rather interesting, but Court TV’s Ashleigh Banfield grates on the good sense of any person of reasonable intelligence. Banfield predicted the jury would be back with a guilty verdict in less than 45 minutes. The jury has now been out for almost two hours.

“Well, at least we know Ashleigh Banfield was wrong,” the wife said. “Slut.”

1:49pm–Well, if anything, today is making me laugh, if only because the comments in this post are already as funny as anything I’ve read all day long.

As one source of my frustration with the American government revolves around the online gaming prohibition that was attached to the Port Security Bill, I’m considering playing online poker all afternoon.

2:09pm—Zippy reports (via the ever growing comments) that, like Mark Sanford here in South Carolina, two Congress people in Ohio couldn’t vote because of lack of ID or voting machine problems. In New Jersey, CNN reports that one campaign is accusing the other of chaining and locking a polling place door. In Wisconsin, a polling place has been closed (and now moved outside into the cold) because of a bomb threat. In Oklahoma, squirrels ate through some power lines (must’ve tasted like pumpkin) and knocked out power to a town of 6,000. In Virginia, there are reports of Democrat voters getting phone calls that threaten arrest if they try to vote.

So, whatta you think? I’ve got a funny feeling about today, but I can’t quite place it. What’s going to happen here?

2:37pm–Your continued visits here have bouyed my spirit. If you’re looking for others doing the same, check out…

Up For Anything
67 Degrees (legislative reporter in the land of Kinky Friedman)

2:49pm–So, I’m what music people would call an alt-country fan. I’m not much for today’s Nashville. Give me some Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, Robbie Fulks, Starkweathers, Steve Earle and the Dukes (or any other Steve Earle, for that matter) over Faith Hill, Brooks and Dunn, and Carrie Underwood any day. Give me Willie, Waylon, Kris, and Merle and I’ll let you keep Paisley, Urban, and Jackson. (You see what just happened there? I didn’t catch it until I wrote it. The good ol’ boys are easily identified by their first names. We’re not on a first-name basis with the new guys).

Anyway, last night was not the best night for television (save Studio 60, which I continue to enjoy), so I let the wife watch the Country Music Awards. No big surprise, the Dixie Chicks (probably the most vocally and musically talented group of popular country artists) were nowhere to be found. Take from that what you will, but it’s further evidence, as far as I am concerned, that I have no real reason to check out the pop country stations.

3:21pm–So about half of what I was expecting for today (the part of everything that is of a more personal nature) will likely not be decided today. I’m not too bummed about that. Delays on that front are more expected than you might guess. So, today’s attention is now fully turned to the more important issue, and that’s the direction of America. With the ten-year-old bottle of Dom chilling in the fridge, I wonder what is exactly Dom-worthy. I mean, in the two years I’ve been waiting to pop the cork on the bottle, I’ve not come up with a decent reason to open it (does champagne go bad?). Now, I wonder what, if anything, will move me to open it tonight. While I’m not necessarily rooting against the Republicans, I am rooting for change. By definition, the Republicans losing control of Congress will mark significant change. However, if most of the predictions come true and the Dems take the House and the Republicans hold the Senate, is gridlock worth celebrating with the Dom? Or do I need complete change? Or, will I just drink the beer that’s been in the fridge since yesterday (damn, a beer sounds good right now).

What say you, comment monkeys?

3:34pm–Well, after a great deal of consideration, I’ve decided to throw my support behind the candidate that has helped me get where I am today. While I respect everyone’s opinion, for me, there is a clear choice.

3:51pm–Absinthe, once content to air his views in my comments section, has decided to solitarily stew at his own semi-live blog. And speaking of his stew, I know the wife is going to approach me here in about 30 minutes and ask what we’re doing for dinner. I figure neither of us feel like cooking (although Absinthe’s stew sounds pretty good and I could use the cooking exercise), I figure we’ll go with takeout. She’ll suggest pizza. I’ll suggest Chinese. We’ll likely end up with cold cut sandwiches out of the fridge. Nothing sounds good right now, except Absinthe’s stew, and I don’t figure to get over there in time to get a bowl. And suddenly, that shift I felt at the beginning of the day is starting to feel less good. Not sure what it is, but I don’t feel as good all of a sudden.

4:16pm–If you’re the type of person who gets his fix off election results, you’ll be interested to see how the major networks are handling exit poll data this year.

…a consortium of five broadcast and cable networks and The Associated Press that commissions exit polls of the major races – have decided to sequester two analysts from each news organization in a secret “quarantine room” in New York, where they alone will get access to the first waves of data from precincts around the country.

Stripped of their cell phones and Blackberries – and even monitored when they use the bathrooms – the representatives will be able to study the results of the surveys, but will not be allowed to communicate them to their newsrooms until 5 p.m. Eastern. They must sign legal affidavits guaranteeing they will not reveal any data before then.

Some of you who are not political animals may not know it, but there are those of us who watch election returns like we watch a sporting event. Ze Frank said today, it’s like watching a marathon of World Series of Poker coverage on ESPN. While I’m fairly confident he was beig sarcastic, it rings true for me.

4:48pm–True to form, my wife hit me with a pizza request. I have little interest. Just doesn’t sound very good. She said Wok Inn was fine if I’d go pick it up. Also doesn’t sound very good. There’s an Italian joint up on the corner where I could get some takeout, but…well, yeah, doesn’t sound very good.

Thee quarantined exit poll reporters are due out of their locked room in about ten minutes. That’s when we should start getting some soft numbers on how things will look tonight. That said, exit polls are pretty notorious for being unreliable (witness the past several Presidential elections).

5:10pm–Exit polls are coming out as I type. However, trying to listen over a kid who is a little angry is not going to work.

5:13pm–Alright, he’s calm. Early exit polls say a majority of voters think either party can handle terrorism and that their voting direction was based largely on national rather than local issues. Corruption in Washington took #1 as the reason people went to the polls. Pundits are saying all of the above is bad for Republicans, to which I respond…well, duh.

5:19pm–C.J. has disagreed with what he believes is spin about the above exit poll data. I think I have to disagree with him. If terrorism his the #2 spot for importance in voting, that is a push for Republicans, as people said the believe either party can handle terrorism. If Iraq is #4, that’s not great for the Dems, I agree. I would’ve expected it to be #1. Still, at #4, one would assume that means a majority of people voting against a Republican administration. So…

#1 Corruption–Plus for Democrats
#2 Terrorism–Push
#3 Economy–Plus for Republicans
#4 Iraq: Plus for Democrats

I’m not putting a lot of stock on the exit polls (kinda like sports betting, methinks). However, if someone gave me $100 and said lay it on one side or the other based on the above information, I’d gladly lay it on the Dems.

5:28pm–Food time. I went with chicken parm. Wife went with something shrimp related. The kid got the sketti. Back in a bit.

6:00pm–Back from dinner. Meh. Gotta talk to the guy about how to cook chicken parm. I was about to talk about how the rain has picked up here and the voting was probably done for the day, but the local news shows long lines at polling places. Not that it matters much here, though. I try not to talk too much about the blue state vs. red state stuff, but South Cackalacky is pretty damned red. Hell, the Gamecocks boast garnet as their school color.

6:12pm–Oh, and evidence I need to turn off the political coverage as soon as the night is over? My kid called the wife “macaca” during dinner.

6:19pm–In case you spent the last few weeks reading Dilbert and eating ice cream, here’s what we’re watching tonight:

Democrats need net gain of 15 seats to take control of House–Most pundits are saying this is lilkely to happen. If it doesn’t, Republicans can celebrate and Democrats can sit in confusion and wonder where they went wrong…again.

Democrats need net gain of six seats to take control of Senate–Most pundits are saying this is much less likely than the Dems taking the House. If it should happen, I think it would be equivalent to the 1994 victory by Republicans. if it doesn’t happen, Democrats will have to hope they take the House and Republicans can feel happy with a moral victory.

6:32pm–The benefit of being a former political journalist is having friends on he ground tonight. One reports that polls in at least one South Carolina county will stay open 8:00 tonight because of a vting machine problem. The area is primarily African-American. A judge made the call late today at the request of the Dems.

6:53pm–Well, the polls in many eastern states are about to close. I’m wireless on the laptop in the living area of my house. Right now, we’re watching Wolf Blitzer, with MSNBC as a backup. I’ll turn to FOX if things go poorly for the Republicans. I think my kid just opened a beer in the kitchen. I need to go tell him that we have to wait at least an hour.

7:00pm–CNN now projecting that Virginia voters more than likely have passed the ban on same-sex marriage. Not sure if that is any indication in the big Senate race there. Regardless, it’s not the kind of sign I like to see. Of course, reading anything into this amendment is not really worth it at this point. As an aside, CNN’s graphics would be more useful if they didn’t change them every three seconds.

7:07pm–Three potential pick-up House seats for Democrats in Kentucky and Indiana are all skewing Democrat in early reporting. Only one of those has a significant precinct percentage, though.

7:15pm–In recent minutes, we’ve turned over to MSNBC in an attempt to save our eyes. CNN’s graphics strobe light was getting to be a bit much. We’ll head back to CNN after our eyes have rested. In other news, I think the germ factory kid may have given me his cold.

7:20pm–From the old Otis homestead, a few areas in Southwest Missouri (a key state in this year’s election) have…get this…run out of ballots. Talk about turnout.

7:23pm–Via Absinthe…a look at CNN’s exit polls shows key states skewing Democratic.

7:53pm–With the new round of polls set to close, I’m feeling a little better. I laid on my floor with the kid and watched some coverage. “Daddy, watch the news?” he said. Also, not that I think it will happen, but if former college and NFL quarterback Heath Shuler should beat Charles Taylor in the North Carolina House race, I’ll open the Dom just on principle.

8:00pm–Who is out there reading in Ohio? Is the governor’s race there any indication of how the night is going to go for DeWine? Locally, the precincts are just starting to report. The absentee votes are skewing Democratic, but that will change like a mother-effer in the coming hours. One thing is clear: my NO vote on the same-sex marriage ban will be counted, but not result in South Carolina looking less like a backward, Deliverance, red state.

8:05pm–C.J. points out that CBS has already called Sherrod Brown the winner in the Ohio Senate race over Dewine, marking one pickup for the Dems.

8:24pm–Uncle Ted just called. He has the distinction of not having been mentioned so far in today’s live blog. He’s eating kielbasa, dirty rice, and a piece of pie he requisitioned from his neighbors. If they are the neighbors I’m thinking of, they are likely very interested in the outcome of today’s votes.

Also, a friend (okay, it’s G-Rob) stationed in the state captial tells me there might be a chance our doofus Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer might get beat by a Democrat. Of course, it looks like all of SC’s Dem precincts are coming in early, so who knows.

8:34pm–From the comments section and Boy Genius:

822PM – DOWN GOES SANTORUM!

Voting against him is the best thing I’ve done since landing on the ground in PA. God bless America.

8:45pm–Can I believe Chuck Schumer? He just told Democrat HQ that the tight Senate race in Virginia is close now, but the heavily Democratic precincts in the northern part of the state have yet to come in. Do I believe that?

9:01pm–While I’m making some hot chocolate, pol sleuths CJ and Absinthe have dug up some data that suggest Webb could infact pick up a lot of votes in the coming hours in his effort to unseat George Allen.

9:19pm–Hot chocolate with butterscotch is damned soothing for the soul. Feeling bouyed as we speak.

9:26pm–Three Senate pick-ups for the Dems now with Ohio, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. As Jeff Greenfield just said, that’s halfway home. Virginia, Missouri, Montana, and Tennessee are the states in play. Dems need three out of four to pick it up. To be honest, I just don’t see Virginia and Missouri going the Dems way. That’s not based on anything but a gut feeling and having lived in Missouri for 23 years.

9:32pm–Nothing official yet, but the word on the street is Tommy Moore is just about finished in his bid to unseat populist, maverick Governor Mark Sanford in South Carolina. Still waiting on word on the Lt. Gov race. A moral victory here would be Andre Bauer losing.

9:36pm–As a matter of full disclosure on the above…I voted Republican in the governor’s race. While Sanford can’t get along with the legislature and has a bit too much money to fully understand the populace as a whole, his fiscal policies fit right in line with what I think I governor should have. Plus, Tommy Moore is one of the good ol’ boys. When I saw Republicans for Moore and saw who those Republicans were, I knew Moore was a no-go.

9:38pm–Another reason Dems lose in South Carolina…according to my source…the last three songs played at the Democratic party:

Macarena
Electric slide
Honky Tonk Ba-donk-a-donk

9:43pm–Associated Press calls SC governor’s race for Mark Sanford.

9:45pm–C.J. has me convinced the Senate is no longer in play for the Dems. Virginia’s Arlington County seems Webb’s biggest hope at this point. Virginia is the key there. Optimism in L.A. suggests it’s possible, but I think C.J. has swayed me to believe it ain’t going to happen.

Absinthe disagrees. He’s combing through the precinct numbers and says:

“A lot of precincts outstanding in Richmond City, Petersburg City, Norfolk City, Loudon County, Arlington County, and those places are going to Webb by anywhere from eight points to better than 2:1 (and they’re much more populous – the districts in which Allen has a large margin are already at 100%)”

9:55pm–Apparently my home county has suffered some sort of meltdown and can’t count my vote (or anybody else who lives here). This could be interesting.

10:21pm–Methinks it’s time for a beer. If you’ve not yet opened yours, I invite you to join me.

10:29pm–Frankie is keeping an eye on the Talent-McCaskill race in Missouri for us. It’s been flipping and flopping there. McCaskill who jumped out to an early lead is looking to be fading fast.

In other news, C.J. over at Up For Anything is going out on a limb and calling Virginia for George Allen. He writes:

“Based on my questionable mathematical skillz, I’m calling the U.S. Senate race in Virginia for George Allen (R), which effectively ends the Democrats chance of regaining control of the Senate. Allen leads by 30,000+ votes, and an analysis of the outstanding precincts shows Webb could pick up as many as 27,000 in counties he’s done well, but Allen is also likely to pick up at least a few thousand.”

10:48pm–ALARM! ALARM!

If I just understood Tim Russert correctly, NBC has called North Carolina 11 for Heath Shuler. And in checking CNN…indeed…evil incarnate Charles Taylor, longtime incumbent in western North Carolina, has been defeated by a one-time quarterback.

Taylor is old school Republican. The race in these parts was us ugly as they come. The GOP went all out to turn Shuler into a monster. They failed and Charles Taylor is coming home. Hopefully he’ll hole up in his mansion and get scabies.

11:07pm–Let’s be honest with ourselves here. The Dems aren’t going to take the Senate tonight. Even if Virginia comes in, MO, TN, and MT aren’t going to.

11:31pm–I voted for a Green Party candidate today. She got all of 1% of the vote (and that was likely rounding up). Over in Virginia, the number of votes pulled in by the Green Party candidate could’ve given the Dems a pick-up seat. Kinda makes me wonder.

Networks are projecting now that the Dems will, in fact, take over the House, so they have that going for them. And as my buddy said the other day, “Sweet, sweet gridlock.”

11:50pm–Webb has just pulled slightly ahead in VA. That means I’m not going to bed quite yet. In other news, Kyl won in AZ as expected. Still, the spiteful Otis was hoping for a big upset there.

12:05am–Okay…

It’s Missour–EEEE
Not Missour–AHH

12:32am–Tennessee is off the board. That leaves VA, MO, and MT and Dems need all three. I’m eating Wasabi peas.

12:33am–George Allen is talking to his folks in Virginia right now. “This has been an interesting election and the election continues,” he said. I may or may not have heard him correctly, but I think he also thanked “macaca” for being there.

12:40am–In Missouri, Claire McCaskill has just pulled into a slim lead. Jackson County (KC area) is coming in strong for her, as expected. 31% of the votes remain to be counted in that county. St. Louis County is not a strong Democrat county like St. Louis City, but it is trending McCaskill, as well and still has 70% of the vote to come in.

12:45am–And just like that, Talent has jumped back ahead of McCaskill. That said, McCaskill has a chance. In Montana, with 35% of the vote in, Tester leads by about 8%. So, let’s look at this for a few minutes. I give it 9-1 that the Dems take both MO and MT. But, if they do, that leaves VA as the Florida of 2000. The recount will be an insane process and could take weeks. Litigation, protests, and…well, likely locusts will all be in order.

12:52am–In six degrees of seperation news, J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), one-time sportscaster for my old TV station and incumbent Congressman in Arizona, has lost his bid for re-election.

1:05am–Jackson County, MO just came in big for Claire McCaskill. She’s now got a small lead with the rest of Jackson County and St. Louis County still to come in. The question is whether my people down in Southwest Missoui have the numbers to push Talent back over the top. If you missed it, the Joplin area (about 45 minutes southwest of where I grew up) ran out of ballots today. That means it will be a while before we see the votes out of that reddish area of Missouri.

1:28am–Now 14.5 hours into this experiment, I will admit, I’m finally tired. Sam Adams Light doesn’t not taste like Sam Adams. Wasabi peas are great for a small snack, but not for a late-night meal. Three outstanding Senate races mean the difference between a decent Democrat victory in the House or a sweep that will give them full control of Congress. I’m currently deciding whether I want to ride this one out. After all, the Dom is still chilling in the fridge.

1:47am–Um…I think McCaskill could win MO. In looking at the outstanding precincts, it’s either going to be a McCaskill win or it’s going to be very very close. She’s about to take the stage in Missouri. And I’m not going to bed yet.

1:51am–McCaskill declares victory. Holy, holy, holy.

1:53am–Funny. Seems there is a Dem strategy in place to declare victory before even the knee-jerk networks call it. It happened in VA and now MO. As Absinthe pointed out to be, it’s all about perception, especially in the case of a potential recount.

2:02am–So, with 15 hours of live blogging under my belt, I’m calling it a night. With the House locked up for the Dems, three races remain that could make a big, big difference. In VA, Dems have declared victory. In MO, Dems have declared victory and the networks are calling it for Claire McCaskill. In MT, the Dems are leading. As they just said on TV, it looks like, as Montana goes the Senate goes. I’d hoped to crack the Dom tonight, but there are wagon trains in Montana still bringing in votes. As tomorrow (well, today) is important, as well, I’m calling it quits for the night. Thanks to everyone for the fun today.

Dom on Wednesday?

Labels: Elections, Politics