Election Day
This post will hopefully give you some things to look out for as the results start to pour in tomorrow evening:
House
Republicans have a 232-201 majority.
Democrats need to pick up 17 seats for a majority.
They are projected to win anywhere between 10 and 40 seats, so we'll see what happens. There are a lot of key House races in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, as well as a few very interesting ones in Arizona and in traditionally red districts in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Idaho.
Senate
Earlier in the year, taking back the Senate wasn't thought to be a realistic goal for Democrats. Because of the way things have been going, though, regaining a narrow majority is within striking distance.
The balance of power will be determined by these Senate races:
Virginia - Webb (D) vs. Allen (R)
Missouri - McCaskill (D) vs. Talent (R)
Montana - Tester (D) vs. Burns (R)
New Jersey - Menendez (D) vs. Kean (R)
Tennessee - Ford (D) vs. Corker (R)
Rhode Island - Whitehouse (D) vs. Chafee (R)
Connecticut - Lamont (D) vs. Lieberman (Douche) vs. Schlesinger (R)
Maryland - Cardin (D) vs. Steele (R)
Arizona
If you're in the 8th District, obviously Giffords is running against Graf. Giffords is probably going to win, even though I couldn't be any less impressed by what she brings to the table.
On the other hand, sometimes a good way to gauge a race is to look and see who's supporting candidate X or Y. People who hate Mexicans love Randy Graf, so....that's just kind of the way it is, probably not just in AZ-08, but a lot of districts across the country.
Renzi in the 1st district and Hayworth in the 5th district are also in a little bit of trouble, so instead of two Dem reps from Arizona (Grijalva and Pastor) it's possible we could end up with five, depending on how things go. Napolitano is going to win by about 7574108%, and Kyl looks like he's going to hold off Pederson in the Senate race - again, no guarantees of that though.
There are 17 propositions on the ballot. It took me 90 minutes while I was sitting at my desk to look up each one and figure out what the hell they were talking about, so that can't bode well for the level of voter education about these things. I hate direct democracy sometimes.
The main ones are these:
103 makes English the official language in Arizona
106 saves some trees
105 is a neutered version of 106 that people got on the ballot just to piss off the tree people
107 bans gay marriage, even though it's already banned
200 establishes a $1 million lottery that you enter just for voting (I actually voted for this, thinking hey, I don't pay income taxes yet, so I get a free lottery ticket, but I changed my mind about it - because I know that some rich jackass will probably end up winning. That's how it always goes. Kind of like some rich freshman girl always wins the car at the Salpointe raffle.)
201 bans smoking in all public places
202 raises the minimum wage
206 bans smoking in some places (so what if both pass? I'm confused)
204 says you're not allowed to tie your pig or cow to a tree for too long a period of time
That's about it.
I don't really see this as some kind of day of national awakening. If the Democrats happen to have a big day, that doesn't make the country automatically better or worse. The party hasn't done a whole hell of a lot to instill a lot of confidence in anyone. Will they work more? Will they take less money from the wrong people? Will they grow a spine? Will they balance the budget? Will they leave or fix or change Iraq? I don't think anyone can say for sure. After watching hours and hours of debates and ads and attacks and visions for the future, I don't have a whole lot of hope. Alycia laughed at an RNC ad she saw on Sunday that talked about someone named "Liberal Lois" over cartoon-type music because she said it sounded like it was talking to a bunch of little kids. That pretty much sums it up. Over the last six months whenever I try to get political news on TV I'm treated like a child, and that's pretty pathetic.
But I also disagree with people who say that voting is pointless because everyone's the same; the system is corrupt or coercive; partisan divisions on issues and discussions are meaningless. On a base level, I voted this year not particularly for Gabby Giffords or Jim Pederson or whoever, but against certain ideas whenever I could. A vote this year can be a vote against people who are involved in corruption and greed, people who preach hate, people who demonstrate ignorance and callousness on a daily basis. It can be against a legislative agenda that enables those characteristics. It can be a vote if nothing else, to curttail the recklessness of the executive.
It's not meaningless. Not voting because you have no idea what the hell is going on is completely defensible; telling everyone that "I'm not voting and you shouldn't either because it doesn't matter" is not. Obviously almost no one is going to have a perfect candidate or a perfect party to vote for. That's the way it goes. People are different from each other and they are individually different from the large groups that they make. Refusing to participate in the system we have for ourselves because you think we're all screwed anyway is the easy way out, and it's the least pragmatic thing you can do at a time like this.
Abstention on the grounds of ideological opposition. This means you're now the armchair quarterback. Not only are you not on the playing field, you're not even on the sidelines; you're not even wearing a uniform; you're not even in the booth calling the plays. You're sitting at home, cracking open a beer, telling yourself how you could easily call a better game than these idiots. It's the whole "I'm not losing because I'm not trying" bit.
I, along with most people, don't vote because I love my party or I love my candidate that much. Most voters are filled with just as much doubt and uncertainty as non-voters, only they choose to take the leap of faith that their guy is going to do a better job in the government we've set up for ourselves. There is a lot of messed up shit that takes place along the way, and dod knows there is more than enough shit out there to be cynical about - the money, the blood, the oil, the voting machines, the lobbyists, the grade-school discourse. In the end, though, you're going to have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives and they're going to head up to that building next year and hopefully try to do some things, and who we elect affects what those things are and how well they're done.
Tomorrow, we'll see if the pot gets stirred.
House
Republicans have a 232-201 majority.
Democrats need to pick up 17 seats for a majority.
They are projected to win anywhere between 10 and 40 seats, so we'll see what happens. There are a lot of key House races in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, as well as a few very interesting ones in Arizona and in traditionally red districts in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Idaho.
Senate
Earlier in the year, taking back the Senate wasn't thought to be a realistic goal for Democrats. Because of the way things have been going, though, regaining a narrow majority is within striking distance.
The balance of power will be determined by these Senate races:
Virginia - Webb (D) vs. Allen (R)
Missouri - McCaskill (D) vs. Talent (R)
Montana - Tester (D) vs. Burns (R)
New Jersey - Menendez (D) vs. Kean (R)
Tennessee - Ford (D) vs. Corker (R)
Rhode Island - Whitehouse (D) vs. Chafee (R)
Connecticut - Lamont (D) vs. Lieberman (Douche) vs. Schlesinger (R)
Maryland - Cardin (D) vs. Steele (R)
Arizona
If you're in the 8th District, obviously Giffords is running against Graf. Giffords is probably going to win, even though I couldn't be any less impressed by what she brings to the table.
On the other hand, sometimes a good way to gauge a race is to look and see who's supporting candidate X or Y. People who hate Mexicans love Randy Graf, so....that's just kind of the way it is, probably not just in AZ-08, but a lot of districts across the country.
Renzi in the 1st district and Hayworth in the 5th district are also in a little bit of trouble, so instead of two Dem reps from Arizona (Grijalva and Pastor) it's possible we could end up with five, depending on how things go. Napolitano is going to win by about 7574108%, and Kyl looks like he's going to hold off Pederson in the Senate race - again, no guarantees of that though.
There are 17 propositions on the ballot. It took me 90 minutes while I was sitting at my desk to look up each one and figure out what the hell they were talking about, so that can't bode well for the level of voter education about these things. I hate direct democracy sometimes.
The main ones are these:
103 makes English the official language in Arizona
106 saves some trees
105 is a neutered version of 106 that people got on the ballot just to piss off the tree people
107 bans gay marriage, even though it's already banned
200 establishes a $1 million lottery that you enter just for voting (I actually voted for this, thinking hey, I don't pay income taxes yet, so I get a free lottery ticket, but I changed my mind about it - because I know that some rich jackass will probably end up winning. That's how it always goes. Kind of like some rich freshman girl always wins the car at the Salpointe raffle.)
201 bans smoking in all public places
202 raises the minimum wage
206 bans smoking in some places (so what if both pass? I'm confused)
204 says you're not allowed to tie your pig or cow to a tree for too long a period of time
That's about it.
I don't really see this as some kind of day of national awakening. If the Democrats happen to have a big day, that doesn't make the country automatically better or worse. The party hasn't done a whole hell of a lot to instill a lot of confidence in anyone. Will they work more? Will they take less money from the wrong people? Will they grow a spine? Will they balance the budget? Will they leave or fix or change Iraq? I don't think anyone can say for sure. After watching hours and hours of debates and ads and attacks and visions for the future, I don't have a whole lot of hope. Alycia laughed at an RNC ad she saw on Sunday that talked about someone named "Liberal Lois" over cartoon-type music because she said it sounded like it was talking to a bunch of little kids. That pretty much sums it up. Over the last six months whenever I try to get political news on TV I'm treated like a child, and that's pretty pathetic.
But I also disagree with people who say that voting is pointless because everyone's the same; the system is corrupt or coercive; partisan divisions on issues and discussions are meaningless. On a base level, I voted this year not particularly for Gabby Giffords or Jim Pederson or whoever, but against certain ideas whenever I could. A vote this year can be a vote against people who are involved in corruption and greed, people who preach hate, people who demonstrate ignorance and callousness on a daily basis. It can be against a legislative agenda that enables those characteristics. It can be a vote if nothing else, to curttail the recklessness of the executive.
It's not meaningless. Not voting because you have no idea what the hell is going on is completely defensible; telling everyone that "I'm not voting and you shouldn't either because it doesn't matter" is not. Obviously almost no one is going to have a perfect candidate or a perfect party to vote for. That's the way it goes. People are different from each other and they are individually different from the large groups that they make. Refusing to participate in the system we have for ourselves because you think we're all screwed anyway is the easy way out, and it's the least pragmatic thing you can do at a time like this.
Abstention on the grounds of ideological opposition. This means you're now the armchair quarterback. Not only are you not on the playing field, you're not even on the sidelines; you're not even wearing a uniform; you're not even in the booth calling the plays. You're sitting at home, cracking open a beer, telling yourself how you could easily call a better game than these idiots. It's the whole "I'm not losing because I'm not trying" bit.
I, along with most people, don't vote because I love my party or I love my candidate that much. Most voters are filled with just as much doubt and uncertainty as non-voters, only they choose to take the leap of faith that their guy is going to do a better job in the government we've set up for ourselves. There is a lot of messed up shit that takes place along the way, and dod knows there is more than enough shit out there to be cynical about - the money, the blood, the oil, the voting machines, the lobbyists, the grade-school discourse. In the end, though, you're going to have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives and they're going to head up to that building next year and hopefully try to do some things, and who we elect affects what those things are and how well they're done.
Tomorrow, we'll see if the pot gets stirred.