Pressing The Flesh

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Well, it all comes down to today.... Will Democrats be able to motivate American anger and dissatisfaction with "staying the course" into mobilized voters across the country? Will the GOP be able to get out their own vote, despite fractures within their own party? Will they be able to motivate their usual ace in the pocket - the Religious Right - despite stories like Foley and Haggard?

Tonight, all questions will be answered... hopefully.

I hope EVERYONE reading this tonight - regardless of political affiliation - gets out to vote today. Imagine how many people would complain if our right to vote were suddenly taken away? EVERYONE would want to vote then. And yet, millions of Americans take this vital American right for granted.

Don't be one of them. Vote. Don't let anyone tell you that your single vote doesn't count. Take a look at MY story, and think twice before you assume that your vote won't make a difference.

While I'll be at a final dress rehearsal for the show I'm directing tonight, feel free to check back later in the evening - I'll be live-blogging results and analysis as soon as I'm able. In addition, I'll be sitting in on a live chat with some political junkie friends over at Modern Fabulousity, so come chat with us as the results come in!

Officially, for the record, here's my prediction for tonight's results. Democrats will pick up 22 seats in the House, and five seats in the Senate.

Here's a short list of the timeline (Eastern Standard Time - sorry to all my readers from elsewhere) for tonight, with regard to the schedule of races to watch tonight. (I'm focusing on the Senate races here, because I personally believe that it's a given that the House will convert to Democratic leadership by mid-evening - watch races in Indiana and Kentucky for confirmation of this):

7:00PM - Polls close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. At this point, the Virginia Senate race between Webb and Allen will be the one to watch.

7:30PM - Polls close in Ohio and West Virginia. While Robert Byrd is assured victory, the Senate race with DeWine and Brown will be much, much closer. By this point, if Ohio and Virginia become Democratic pick-ups, you have my permission to uncork the champagne early - I doubt, however, that these races will be won by a large enough margin to forecast a winner this early.

8:00PM - This is the big hour. Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Six big Senate races get decided here. In Connecticut, watch Lieberman and Lamont. The race in Maryland for the open seat - Steele versus Cardin - won't be as close as people had originally thought. A MUCH closer race will finish in the Missouri Senate race with McCaskill and Talent. New Jersey's unanticipated horse race between Kean and Menendez will be decided. Pennsylvania's polls close, and Casey and PA Dems will be able to officially celebrate kicking Rick Santorum out of office. Last, but certainly not least, Tennessee's Senate race between Corker and Ford will come to an end. Harold Ford, in my opinion, has run the BEST campaign of ANYONE this year - Republican or Democrat - let's hope he's rewarded with a history-making victory.

8:30PM - While attention will more than likely still be focusing on results from the 8:00PM polls, which will remain too close to call for quite a while, polls officially close in Arkansas and North Carolina.

9:00PM - The earlier races will more than likely still not be called yet, but polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraka, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Sheldon Whitehouse will be able to begin his victory celebration over Lincoln Chafee almost instantly. Not to be forgotten on the House side, however, is the TX-22 race in Texas - the official end to Tom DeLay, as Nick Lampson declares victory over the write-in replacement for The Broken Hammer.

10:00PM - Polls close in Iowa, Montana, Nevada and Utah. Montana is the Senate race to watch here, with Tester running a great campaign against incumbent Conrad Burns. A nice "dark-horse" surprise might be a Jack Carter victory in Nevada, but don't count on it.

11:00PM - Polls officially close on the West Coast in California, Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Washington. By this time, however, it should become clear which way both the House and the Senate have gone.

So, there's the line-up. We'll be back later in the evening with more news, analysis and results as we receive them.

Now, GO VOTE.

Posted by FleshPresser at 3:28 PM /

2 Comments

Anonymous posted at 10:52 PM
I like your message. I too wish that people wouldn't take the privilege of voting for granted. My county (in Washington State) votes entirely by mail, so I voted several days ago. Kind of strange, but it's nice not to have to worry about getting to the polls and fickle and possibly fraudulent machines.

Anonymous posted at 11:32 PM
Democrats (and everyone for that matter) should be happy to know that Ken Blackwoell and Mike DeWine (Ohio) are both history!

Congrats to Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown for escaping the mudslinging!