Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Interesting ...
I've been following the election returns, tonight, on Fox. (yeah, Amy and I voted, mostly, Republican ... we voted Democrat in a few local (county) elections ... I think it was for County Coroner)
I find it amazing that Fox was willing to call a given election as won ... when less than 50% of the involved votes were counted. ... Especially, when they were calling that election for a Democrat!
I mean, really! Fox calling elections for Democrats with, barely 1/3 of the votes counted!
To refresh your memory, for a Congressman to be elected, from either House (Senate, or the House of Representatives), they have to have 50% of the vote. If only 36% of the potential votes have been counted, how can you call a race for one person or the other? The individual states have counts on the registered voters. They centrally locate the polling places,by population.
It's 1 in the morning in Washington (the state, not the city) The Jim Webb-George Allen race in Virginia ... which was supposed to be a done deal, once the word "Macaca" left George Allen's mouth, is still up for grabs, especially, given the fact, that the closeness of their race has now kicked in the Virginia state law on recounts.
The historian in me is reminded of one national political race ...
The 1948 Presidential race.
Look at the list of American Presidents. Where do you find the name "Dewey" on that list?
Simple answer, you don't.
Exit polls, polls before an election, etc. don't mean anything ... it's only real votes that count.
Meaning: only counted ballots from registered voters put politicians in office.
At this point, my gut says that neither party is going to enjoy a veto-proof majority in either house of Congress (66%).
By the way, that would be 66 seats in the Senate, and 287 in the House of Representatives.
The President has used his legislative veto power less than just about any President in history. But, then again, he hasn't had to. Up until today, his party has owned both houses of Congress during his Presidency.
More later ...
I find it amazing that Fox was willing to call a given election as won ... when less than 50% of the involved votes were counted. ... Especially, when they were calling that election for a Democrat!
I mean, really! Fox calling elections for Democrats with, barely 1/3 of the votes counted!
To refresh your memory, for a Congressman to be elected, from either House (Senate, or the House of Representatives), they have to have 50% of the vote. If only 36% of the potential votes have been counted, how can you call a race for one person or the other? The individual states have counts on the registered voters. They centrally locate the polling places,by population.
It's 1 in the morning in Washington (the state, not the city) The Jim Webb-George Allen race in Virginia ... which was supposed to be a done deal, once the word "Macaca" left George Allen's mouth, is still up for grabs, especially, given the fact, that the closeness of their race has now kicked in the Virginia state law on recounts.
The historian in me is reminded of one national political race ...
The 1948 Presidential race.
Look at the list of American Presidents. Where do you find the name "Dewey" on that list?
Simple answer, you don't.
Exit polls, polls before an election, etc. don't mean anything ... it's only real votes that count.
Meaning: only counted ballots from registered voters put politicians in office.
At this point, my gut says that neither party is going to enjoy a veto-proof majority in either house of Congress (66%).
By the way, that would be 66 seats in the Senate, and 287 in the House of Representatives.
The President has used his legislative veto power less than just about any President in history. But, then again, he hasn't had to. Up until today, his party has owned both houses of Congress during his Presidency.
More later ...
