You have to take exit polls with a grain of salt because people will often tell pollsters what you want to hear, but if the polling done by CNN is any indication things could turn for Claire McCaskill. She’s losing among white voters, but in almost all other demographics she statistically tied or in the lead. With 66% of precincts reporting, McCaskill has narrowed Jim Talent’s lead to 4 points, so maybe KC and St. Louis will help her out. Time will tell. I doubt seriously if Dems will take control of the Senate, but they’ve given one hell of good fight this year. If nothing else, they will have narrowed the Republicans’ majority in the Senate and they look to take control of the House.
A law banning all abortion in South Dakota seems to be going down to defeat, and by a nearly 10-point margin. Thank God saner heads prevailed in this very red state.
CNN is projecting Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives once all votes have been counted. This is how it should be; one party should not control both houses of Congress, Democrat or Republican. It will be interesting to see how the House operates under Speaker Pelosi, who by her own admission is a proud Liberal. From what I’ve been seeing, Democrats are winning because a new breed of socially conservative, progressive candidates are winning in states that Republicans have held for some time. These new Democrats tend to be pro-life and anti-gay marriage, which puts them at odds with a majority of Democrats and especially Nancy Pelosi. A hallmark of the Republican-held house for the past twelve years has been the cohesiveness of the party when it came to voting. If Nancy Pelosi can’t count on these conservative Democrats I think very little will get done. Add to that the fact that it looks like the Republicans will hold on to the majority, albeit a smaller majority, in the Senate and I think we can expect to see a lot of partisan shit.
Well, it’s turning to be a tight race, as expected. Currently, Jim Talent is leading Claire McCaskill 51% to 45%. That seems like a lot, especially with more than half of the precincts reporting, but according to KY-3 the majority of votes cast have come from rural counties where Jim Talent is expected to lead. That leaves the major cities like KC and St. Louis, but unless we see some movement prior to those votes coming in I’m not sure McCaskill will pull into the lead since Talent in popular in the St. Louis area.
In other races, right now it looks like the State Auditor office will remain in the hands of a Democrat, and I’m surprised at that. Currently, Susan Montee leads Sandra Thomas by 3 points and I think she will hold that.
On a disappointing note, the Stem Cell initiative is currently failing by 5 points. Again, I think this will be tied to the larger cities of KC and St. Louis where support is stronger, but it doesn’t look good right now. I’m a little surprised the tobacco tax is failing by a ten-point margin; that type of margin is hard to come back from. Also surprising, but in a good way, is the minimum wage proposition, which is passing by more than 50 points. There is no way that will lose. This proposition will raise the minimum wage to $6.50, which is a start towards paying people a living wage.
So, I dragged myself out of bed early this morning so I could cast my vote. I don’t know why I’m like this, but I just get a kick out of doing my bit the Republic. While there have been times when I thought my vote was a complete waste of time, I’ve never regretted participating in one of most import civic duties.
As I’ve said before, I live in a very Conservative, very Republican part of Missouri. That’s not to say the Democrats are nowhere to be seen. They are, in fact, a small, but very vocal group of people. Usually, when I got to the voting spot, a rural fire department out in B.F.E., I’ll see the parking lot littered with sighs for Republican candidates; however, this year all I saw were signs for Democrats. Granted, it was early in the morning and I’m sure the Republicans in the area will get their candidate’s signs up, but it was nice to see. Maybe this is a sign that the Democrat GOTV efforts, which have been stronger than usual this year, have made a positive impact. We’ll see.
The one annoying thing I found, and it’s every time I vote, is that I have no choice but to vote for Republicans in some of the races. Granted, I have in the past voted for Republican and still do occassionally. Hate me if you want, but I continue to vote for JoAnn Emerson simply because she’s an independent voice in the House who doesn’t mind bucking her own party and she takes care of Southwest Missouri. In other races, where I wouldn’t mind seeing the Republican run out of office, I have no other choice. No Democrat is willing to run against the entrenched incumbent. Very annoying.
But that’s not the scary sight I’m referring to. Usually, when I’m done with the ballot I drop it in a locked box that I assume it taken to wherever the votes are counted. This year, there was a new machine in the polling place. An electronic device that I fed the ballot into once I was completed. The scary part: stamped in bold letters across the top was the company name Diebold!