stunned

[eruthros]

... omg

I had to go to sleep last night before final results came in. (Plus, it was obvious by then that Virginia was going to go into a recount, and if I wanted to stay up for "final" results it would be, like, next month before I slept.)

And I just woke up and refreshed the Missouri Senate race results (before my flist even) and omg we took Missouri. Over the incumbent. Not in a new race.

And Montana and Virginia are too close to call but the Dems are up in each -- by about 1,500 votes in Montana and 8,000 in Virginia. That is like half a percentage point at best, but it's always good to go into the recount ahead so that you don't look like a sore loser.

This is incredible. Average House seat pickup predicted by "liberal bloggers" was 24. Dems took 28. Dems picked up four in the Senate and might, just might, maybe, pick up those last two seats. *stunned*

Let me tell you, this is a much better morning than the one in 2000 where I stayed up half the night watching votes inch closer and waiting for a recount. I was expecting to get up and be depressed and, and, no! Look! OMG! People! I love you all! You phone-banking, poll-working, letters-to-the-editor writing, blog-commenting, kick-ass GOTVers. *sniff*

Also, thanks to svmadelyn for the fannish political chat last night, which vastly improved the stressful experience of refreshing the Virginia Interactive Results page every thirty seconds.

Comments

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

We also passed the Stem Cell initiative in Missouri.

In MISSOURI. *flabbergasted*

[eruthros]

I KNOW! MISSOURI! What a day!

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

I believe that the pollsters probably underestimated the strength of the Anyone-But-GWB party. My husband and I (both registered Independents) voted a straight Dem ticket yesterday. Which is largely against our principles but in this case we saw it as sending a message. And we weren't alone. Result? We just upset a *long* time Republican incumbent rep in NH- *both* Republican house incumbents lost to Democrats. From the local paper:

This marks the first time since 1912 that Democrats have held both U.S. House seats in New Hampshire.

The strong Democratic showing was also reflected on a local level, with the possibility of Democrats taking over the state Senate. Democrats won two seats by 11 p.m. and led in four other races. If all those races went to Democrats, the party would have a 14-10 majority in the Senate.

The trend carried over to the New Hampshire House, with Democrats on their way to taking 213 seats. Republicans were trailing with 153 seats.

New Hampshire's Legislature has been in Republican hands since 1911.

I can't say I view Democratic control of state government as a totally positive thing. But with the Republicans moving inexorably away from the center and with the high bar for independent candidates to challenge the established party structure, I prefer giving this a shot over the alternative.

I'm a social liberal, fiscal conservative, generally moderate atheist... or IOW- never totally agree with *anyone* . *g*

[eruthros]

I, too, am against single-party government. But I'm more against Republican single-party government than Democratic.

I mean, when I lived in CA, I'd never voted single-ticket in any election. Socially liberal, anti-big-business, totally environmentalist and, oh, btw, queer? I went Green or sometimes even Socialist (gotta pump up their votes so they can get on the ballot for reals!) or Democratic.

Then Al Gore.
Then 2000.
Then Pennsylvania, where the third-party candidates are a joke.
And, as much as I hated it, I didn't even push the buttons for the candidates individually in Philadelphia -- I just hit the button for "straight Democratic ticket" and hated myself for it.

I just hope the Dems live up to my hopes -- which, admittedly, right now are "not spending the US into debt the size of China," "not torturing people," and "not sending FBI agents in to spy on anti-war groups," et cetera.

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

I just hope the Dems live up to my hopes --

Yeah, that should be within their grasp. Should.

Unfortunately, the political system in this country has gotten so vicious that it's hard to see why anyone you would want to elect would be interested in running.

And yet... Earlier this year I was feeling very depressed and cynical about politics, and I happened to hear this essay (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5256345) on NPR. Not the sort of thing you really expect from a journalist in Washington DC. But it gave me back some of my optimism that this system of government can work- that a 'government by the people, for the people, of the people, shall not perish from this earth'. And it's a little easier to believe today that it was yesterday :).