That is, a 60 seat filibuster, procedural proof majority in the Senate for the Dhimmocrats. Saxby Chambliss won in Georgia: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0152117620081203 So, coupled with Mr. Pragmatism in the White House, and his centrist "national security" team, this progressive libertarian can breathe a little easier.
What surprised me most about this Chambliss' win was how much a little-known Alaskan Governor was able to help this Southern Georgia incumbent and how grateful he actually was after his win to her... As an elder statesman of the GOP Chambliss can be instrumental in the Republican Party as we all weather the horrible storm and sick stench of liberalism for the next few years while at the same time grooming Sarah Palin to take over all things Republican in 2012... I can't wait... the sword of the GOP will clearly reside in Alaska for now despite the Chambliss' win... Sen. Chambliss Says Palin 'Fired Up' the Base in Georgia Runoff Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss says campaign trail appearances by Sarah Palin helped put him over the top in the Georgia Senate runoff.
Frankly, I don't think her participation in GA does that much for her. If she can stump for someone in a democratic but winnable state, then it will add to her influence. A republican in GA should have never been in a run off. The only reason he was is that Obama had a huge effect on election day but those same voters were never going to turn out en masse again for this race. Jim Martin just wasn't that strong of a candidate. Palin got massive exposure in 2008. Now she needs to deliver a message. Any message. Her performance at the guv's meeting last month did little to impress as she was still talking about Joe the Plumber and other campaign talking points. She needs to present a vision for where she wants this country to go. I don't think she has it in her. On the thread topic, I'm not so sure I wanted them to hit 60. There needs to be more balance then that. Does anyone know how often there are votes that are absolutely 100% along party lines? My guess is not often, so 60 is a kind of soft number. There are dems like Jim Webb who can vote more conservatively and republicans like Olympia Snow who might side with the dems when they need a boost on a cloture vote.
Sorry Chris, Georgia has a big Libertarian presence and the Libertarian candidate drew 4% of the vote. That is the only reason this race went to a run off.
I agree with Chris. This race was close initially because of the Obama supporters who came out and just happened to tick off "Martin" at the ballot while they were there. Those Obama supporters simply weren't going to go out of their way to head back to the polls for Jim Martin. Obama supporters couldn't care less about Martin. If Obama weren't on the ballot on November 4th, Martin would have lost by 20% to begin with. Palin had no effect on the run-off. Obama's absence did.
Yes, but its not total votes. Even if Chambliss gets ALL of the lib votes, he is at 52-53 which isn't exactly soaring over the bar. The point is that with the exact same number of votes for chambliss, if Obama isn't in the election and his turnout isn't there, Chambliss percentage of total votes soars way, way over 50. I'm guessing 57-58% of the total.
McCain got 52%, hard to imagine why Chambliss winning with 53% is a big disappointment. Look, I am taking a liking to our "Manchurian candidate" but I still don't believe he can walk on water
I don't think we are really disagreeing much. In 2004, the republican candidates got 1.9 million votes. In 2008 it was 2.2 million. The democrats went from 1.3 in 2004 to 1.8 in 2008. I'm not saying he walks on water at all. I am saying that he drove a much higher turnout in the general election in a lot of states. That increase of 300,000 voters over the republicans in Georgia was a primary factor in driving Saxby below 50% (since he was just below). 91% of African Americans in Georgia voted for Martin. ITN was trying to give credit to Palin which is fine. Anything Repbulicans want to do to boost her up is fine by me. I don't think she will ever get broad enough support to win nationally. I'm just saying that without Obama on the ballot in the run off, Chambliss was able to get the size of win he likely would have gotten on election day. Bush beat Kerry 58-42 which I think is probably a good representation of where Georgia is at these days.