The Three Senate races still undecided (plus Palin factor)

[IAMX 3,055]

In case people want to skip the impending articles, here's the short version:

Right now Democrats (including Lieberman's caucus vote) have 57, Republicans have 40 seats. 3 are still up for grabs which could give Democrats supermajority:

∙ Begich vs. Stevens (Alaska): In the counting for absentees/challenged ballots Begich now has lead over Stevens who had a large lead election night.

∙ Franken vs. Coleman (Minnesota): They're doing a recount, as it's only within a few hundred votes. Many lawyers will be dispatched across the state and likely a legal challenge to the recount expected (from Coleman's side?).

∙ Martin vs. Chambliss (Georgia): They're apparently doing a runoff vote December 2nd. Tons of politicians are flocking to Georgia as some sort of "last bastion" against a "Democratic supermajority". It seems they think Democrats will win Minnesota/Alaska, and now Georgia is under threat.

∙ If Stevens loses, Palin is out of the picture for a possible Senate run. If Stevens wins, Chambliss announced he'd vote to oust Stevens from the Senate, paving the way for Palin to run for the Senate.

Just recently the vote for Stevens just turned to Begich (they're counting absentee/challenged ballots)

http://www.adn.com/elections/story/586989.html

Latest tally: Begich leads Stevens by 3 votes

The elections division still has over 10,000 ballots left to count today and thousands more through next week, but the latest numbers show Mark Begich leading Sen. Ted Stevens 125,019 to 125,016.

The new numbers, reflecting nearly 43,000 absentee ballots counted today, are from all over the state. Election night, Ted Stevens led the Democratic Begich by about 3,000 votes.

The state today is counting a total of about 60,000 absentee and questioned ballots.

The Division of Elections said it expects to count roughly 35,000 additional absentee and questioned ballots over the next week.

If Begich wins then the notion of Palin running to replace him if he's ousted gets cut down pretty swiftly. I think it's very possible for Democrats to take this seat.

The Coleman/Franken battle is going to recounts with lawyers aplenty, possibly a post-recount legal challenge (they make sure to note in bold, at the bottom, THIS IS NOT A FLORIDA SITUATION):

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/...Unciaec8O7EyUsr

The U.S. Senate recount will ensure a hectic holiday season for lawyers, scores of whom are expected to be deployed across Minnesota by the Coleman and Franken campaigns in the weeks ahead to monitor the counting and to prepare for a possible post-recount challenge.

Fritz Knaak, an attorney with Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign, said Tuesday that "perhaps 120 Coleman lawyers" may descend soon on each of the estimated 100 recount sites to be set up in each of the state's 87 counties and in large cities as the process gets underway next week.

Spokeswoman Jess McIntosh said that DFLer Al Franken's campaign is also busy assembling a team of supporters, volunteers and lawyers with plans to cover every recount site.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie will announce today which four judges will join him on the state Canvassing Board when it meets Tuesday to certify the official totals for the Senate race, a day before the recount is set to begin.

The unofficial lead held by Coleman over Franken remained at 206 on Tuesday, when government offices were closed for Veterans Day. It's not clear whether that margin includes votes from all the counties, which were supposed to certify their ballots by midnight Monday.

At a news conference, Knaak said that the Coleman campaign found it "somewhat disturbing and mildly amusing" that Franken campaign lawyer David Lillehaug sought to have 461 rejected absentee ballots considered before the Hennepin County Canvassing Board certified its votes Tuesday. The board rejected Lillehaug's request.

At the same time, Knaak said, the Coleman campaign has received dozens of calls from supporters reporting disturbing incidents of their own. He cited 100 votes that came in late for Franken from Mountain Iron, Minn., tabulated by a voting machine that stamped the corresponding tape two days before the Nov. 4 election. The campaign has requested copies of voting tapes and hand counts from across the state.

Not a Florida situation

The Chambliss/Martin one looks like it's going to a runoff:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/sto...ff_georgia.html

Chambliss called a ‘firewall’ against Democratic majority

National Republicans continued Wednesday to paint incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss as the only thing standing between the Democratic Party and a filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber.

U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, appeared with Chambliss at his Cobb County headquarters, a day before U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) comes to town to stump for the Moultrie lawmaker.

“Saxby and this race may well end up being the firewall against the 60-vote majority the Democrats are trying to achieve,” Ensign told reporters on a conference call prior to a press conference by the two senators. Ensign took a shot at Chambliss’s opponent, Atlanta Democrat Jim Martin, when the Nevada lawmaker accused the incoming class of U.S. senators of being among the most liberal ever elected.

“Jim Martin would be another liberal voice to join that group in Washington, D.C.,” Ensign said.

Martin and Chambliss are locked in a tight Dec. 2 runoff that has attracted national attention. Democrats now control 57 Senate seats, with only unresolved contests in Georgia, Minnesota and Alaska standing in the path of a Democratic super-majority.

Martin on Wednesday praised McCain, but criticized Chambliss for bringing in Republican top guns to boost his chances. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will come to Georgia for Chambliss on Sunday.

“John McCain is a great American,” Martin said at a news conference at the state Capitol. “And he served his country with distinction. All Georgians know that.”

But, Martin said, Georgia voters need a senator who will work with President-elect Barack Obama, not fight him.

“You can bring in all the political leaders of the past, like Saxby Chambliss is to shore up his position, but truthfully, it’s the old politics. We’re moving forward, and are taking our message to voters,” Martin said.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, has bought a week’s worth of ads on Atlanta metro television stations for Martin.

Chambliss, standing with Ensign, predicted Democrats will spend “millions and millions on the airwaves to try to discredit me.”

“The Democrats are going to try to buy this race,” Chambliss said. Neither Chambliss nor Ensign, however, would say how much the GOP plans to spend on the runoff. Democrats have been equally evasive about how much they plan to spend.

Martin said there continues to be no word from Obama about a potential visit to the state before Dec. 2. He said his campaign is moving forward with the same plan as the primary, the primary runoff and the general election: appeal to middle-class voters that he will be a voice for them in Washington.

The runoff, a monthlong sprint that has yet to be officially announced by the Secretary of State, is expected to be expensive for both parties. University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock has estimated it could cost more than $5 million.

“We spent a lot and we need a lot more,” Martin said. “We’ll spend whatever resources we have.”

Before speaking with reporters, Martin spoke to a gathering of state House Democrats. He thanked them for their support and asked for their help. Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus), who was leading the meeting, called on his colleagues to open their wallets, too.

“Let’s stand with Jim,” Smyre said and urged them all to “cut some checks.”

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Palin has already ruled out the Senate.

[IAMX 3,055]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-bl...ider/index.html

Saxby Chambliss says he’d vote to expel Alaska senator, and Sarah Palin may be ready to replace him

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saxby Chambliss said Wednesday that he’ll vote to expel Republican colleague Ted Stevens, should the long-time Alaskan senator win his re-election bid.

Stevens was convicted of seven felony counts last month related to the failure to report gifts from lobbyists. He is leading narrowly in his re-election bid but has not officially been declared the winner of a seventh full Senate term.

“First of all, I hope Senator Stevens is successful in being re-elected. And assuming that he is, I intend to support any motion to remove him,” Chambliss said during a press conference with John Ensign of Nevada, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has served notice that he’ll seek to expel Stevens from the Senate Republican Conference at a meeting next Tuesday.

While Ensign said that he, too, would vote to expel Stevens from the GOP circle — a move that would foreshadow expulsion by the entire Senate — the Nevada senator counseled waiting to see whether Stevens wins his race.

“If he actually wins the election, then you have to expel him twice. And so it’s probably better to let Alaska — it’s probably going to take a while to count all the votes up there — let that take place, then after the first of the year deal with it,” Ensign said.

Expulsion or, more likely, a resignation would trigger a 90-day special election to replace him, Ensign said. It would also give Republicans a chance to keep the seat out of Democratic hands.

Gov. Sarah Palin, the former GOP vice presidential candidate, has been mentioned as a candidate if Stevens leaves or is ousted. And just by coincidence, she was interviewed this afternoon on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

In the interview, which airs at 9 p.m. tonight, King asked Palin if she intends to finish out her term. ” I will do what the people of Alaska want me to do,” Palin replied. “If they call an audible on me, and if they say they want me in another position, I’m going to do it.”

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

And I thought her not being able to keep a story straight had to do with stress from the election. Clearly not.

[IAMX 3,055]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081112/ap_on_el_se/palin_senate

Palin leaves door open for possible Senate run

WASHINGTON - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday said she would consider serving in the Senate if God gave her the opportunity and Alaskans wanted her to take the job. Republican Sen. Ted Stevens holds a narrow lead in a race for his seat that is still undecided. About 90,000 votes were outstanding and a little more than half are being counted Wednesday, according to election officials.

Even if he is re-elected, Stevens could be ousted by the Senate for his conviction on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts, mostly renovations on his home. If Stevens loses his seat, Palin could run for it in a special election.

Palin, who was the GOP vice presidential nominee, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview that she has two years left on her term as governor and wants to serve her constituents the best she can. "At this point it is as governor," she added.

"Now if something shifted dramatically and if it were, if it were acknowledged up there that I could be put to better use for my state in the U.S. Senate, I would certainly consider that but that would take a special election and everything else," she said. "I am not one to appoint myself or a member of my family to take the place of any vacancy."

Pressed in a separate interview with CNN's Larry King about whether she would serve out her term as governor, Palin said, "I will do what the people of Alaska want me to do."

She added, however, "if they call an audible on me, and if they say they want me in another position, I'm going to do it. ... My life is in God's hands. If he's got doors open for me, that I believe are in our state's best interest, the nation's best interest, I'm going to go through those doors."

While she was on the GOP ticket, Palin put aside questions about Stevens' Senate seat.

And we thought that those of us in 49 states were going to be rid of Palin.

I'm hoping Begich wins this. #### Palin and Stevens. That would silence both of them.

Edited November 13, 2008 by SRVT

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Palin rules out run for Senate

Reuters

Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008

NEW YORK -- Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she is not interested in running for the U.S. Senate and prefers her position as governor of Alaska.

I'm hoping Begich wins this. #### Palin and Stevens. That would silence both of them.

Ditto.

Fingers crossed for 60.

[IAMX 3,055]

Anchorage Daily News on it too:

Front Page Headline: Palin leaves door open for Senate run

Gov. Sarah Palin said today she would consider serving in the Senate if God gave her the opportunity and Alaskans wanted her to take the job. 3:29 PM

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/134373

Palin on CNN

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: November 12, 2008 - 2:51 pm

Comments (60) | Recommend (5)

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

The Sarah Palin media blitz continues, with the governor on CNN's Situation Room being interviewed in Miami by Wolf Blitzer as I type. (The link will take you to a link to the video of the interview.)

Palin begins by telling Blitzer "you can call me the has been." Her confidence and down-to-earthiness ("My kids are cool!") beg the question: where was this Sarah Palin during the presidential campaign?

The newsiest part of the interview? When she was asked whether she would ever appoint herself as senator if Sen. Ted Stevens is re-elected and he resigns or is expelled from the Senate. That would be "egotistical and arrogant," said Palin, saying she wouldn't do it. She also said she feels as though she has a "contract with Alaskans" to continue to serve as governor, but wouldn't completely rule out a run for the U.S. Senate if the opportunity presented itself.

It depends on Alaska voters, Palin said, and "if they call an audible on me, and if they say they want me in another position, I'm going to do it. ... My life is in God's hands. If he's got doors open for me, that I believe are in our state's best interest, the nation's best interest, I'm going to go through those doors."

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Just say no, God!

[IAMX 3,055]

Someone needs to tell our friendly Canuckians to read our newspapers.

Anyways, what's your take on the 3 Senate races, AJ?

It's possible Stevens and Coleman lose, and they should be certified within the next week. That brings the December 2nd showdown for Georgia on the national stage for a possible Democrat supermajority via runoff.

Edited November 13, 2008 by SRVT

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I think Begich and Chambliss will win.

Coleman/Franken who knows.

[IAMX 3,055]

It is entirely possible though that Coleman does win Minnesota's open Senate seat.

On the other hand, Republicans are already campaigning again in Georgia with the headline being in the OP as if both Coleman and Stevens are lost causes.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

It is entirely possible though that Coleman does win Minnesota's open Senate seat.

On the other hand, Republicans are already campaigning again in Georgia with the headline being in the OP as if both Coleman and Stevens are lost causes.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Begich up by 814, up from 3 last night.

http://www.elections.alaska.gov/08general/data/results.htm

[HAL 9000 96]

Just say no, God!

Does HAL 9000 detect a tone of Napoleon Dynamite in that God?

[IAMX 3,055]

News just breaking, but Ted Stevens has just lost his Senate seat.

58 - 40 for Democrats (2 I's included).

Edited November 19, 2008 by SRVT