Chambliss: Hey, Guess Who Impacted This Race?

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: National Landscape 2008
• Date: Dec 3,2008

He was going to win in any event, but a wise move by Sarah Palin to go down there and campaign for him. Everybody won. Senator Saxby Chambliss said he "could not overstate" Sarah's contribution to his win. Considering he ended up winning by far more than the projections, something or someone must have been responsible for the late surge. Chambliss must be a genius because he ignored all the know-it-alls that said Palin was such a drag.

Chambliss, in his own words:

Not the best of screen shot of Chambliss there by YouTube.

Not to pile on Sarah Palin, but…

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: McCain, National Landscape 2008
• Date: Nov 26,2008

Watch the right side of the video. Stay with it until about 1:10.

I really don't know what to say other than kudos to the camera man for framing the shot of Palin, the turkey wrangler, and the cone of death. It is great use of the rule of thirds.

Since the election I've talked a lot about Sarah Palin with friends on both sides of the aisle. The general consensus is she wasn't given a chance to succeed because the McCain campaign did such a bad job of handling her. Her selection so late in the summer that she has little time to prepare for the national spotlight, which I would argue she was never going to be ready for anyway. What has been exceptionally revealing is the McCain campaign and Fox News (a la Campaign Carl) assault on Palin post election. The stuff about her clothes and her general intelligence came from conservative sources. It showed how undisciplined and amateur the McCain campaign really was. I feel bad for the fact that this woman put her neck our for John McCain and she got trashed because they did such a bad job with her. Anyway, I hope she rebounds and gets the Republican Presidential Nomination. Palin 2012!

Good News For Mary Jo Kilroy

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: National Landscape 2008, Ohio 2008
• Date: Nov 21,2008

A Federal Judge has ruled that 1,000 provisional ballots cast in heavily Democratic Franklin County must be counted in the hotly contested OH-15 recount. According to Buckeye State Blog, the ballots will remain sealed until November 29th to allow for an appeal, but this is a step in the right direction for Kilroy. The Columbus Dispatch offers a succinct summary of the ruling:

U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley ruled yesterday that both state and federal law "impose a duty on poll workers to verify that a provisional voter" has completed the ballot properly. That includes signing and putting one's name on the ballot envelope, he said.

"Thus, because the disputed ballots in the FCBE's (Franklin County Board of Elections) custody are deficient due to poll worker error, they constitute valid votes that must be opened and counted," Marbley said

It is important to remember that not one of Franklin County's 27,000 provisional ballots have yet been counted because of the legal challenge to the 1,000 disputed votes. They will remain untouched until the appeal process ends, which is fair. Currently, Stivers leads district wide by 479 votes. I checked the county by county numbers expecting Kilroy to be way ahead, but she is actually down by 149 votes. The good news is Obama won 59%-40%. The hope for Democrats is those coat tails helped pull 478+ more of those provisional ballots for Kilroy.

Countdown to 59 Senate Seats

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: National Landscape 2008
• Date: Nov 13,2008

58 – The Anchorage Daily news is reporting that Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich is leading convicted incumbent Senator Ted Stevens by 814 votes based on the latest recount completed yesterday. That is a pretty substantial turnaround considering Stevens lead by roughly 3,000 votes on election night. There are still roughly 35,000 questioned and absentee ballots yet to be counted, but based on the trend in the ballots counted thus far it looks good for Begich. Hopefully this race will be called by Thanksgiving.

59 – The Minnesota Senate race is going to be a long wait. The latest report in the Minneapolis – St. Paul Star Tribune estimates the recount will be completed in mid-December at the earliest. Coleman's lead is down to 206 votes. Minnesota uses optical scan ballots. There were 2.92 million votes cast on Election Day, but only 2.88 million votes recorded for the Senate race. The AP is reporting that the hand recount could show thousands of senate votes that the optical scan machines neglected to read. Obama won Minnesota by 10% with a margin of about 300,000 votes. I'd say that very good news for Al Franken.

Unrelated: I just wanted to say thank you to Eric Mansfield for inviting Ben and I to be on NewsNight Akron last Friday. I have been approached by a surprising number of people who regularly watch the show and saw us. It has reaffirmed my hope that people care about local news and issues here in Akron.

Wanted: RNC Chairman

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: National Landscape 2008, Republicans '08
• Date: Nov 12,2008

Raise your hand if you know who the current chairman of the Republican National Committee is.

Okay, I am guessing not most of you. I know it is Mike Duncan, but I literally have no idea what he looks like. Contrast that to 2004 where RNC Chair Ed Gillespie was everywhere and definitely a visible presence. Duncan reportedly wants to keep his job, but that will not happen. When you are the chairman of a party that takes a beating, you go, whether it was your fault or not. That is just how it works. Now that we our of power on both ends of the Hill, whoever ends up being the chairman will be the public leader of the party.

Three prominent names are floating around out there: Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, Newt Gingrich, and now Fred Thompson. There is even a site trying to draft the just defeated John Sununu into running for the post. Jim Nussle has also shown interest in addition to a few other less known names. All have their own positives and negatives.

On a personal level, I like Michael Steele. But would he will be seen as nothing but an attempt to imitate Lord Obama? The media and the left will do their best to Palin him, though that would probably happen to anyone just based on the fact they were heading the Republican Party. He is a great speaker and could be a valuable tool. He is also more of a moderate, and we have that whole party infighting / searching for answers thing going on right now. The person on the front lines is going to have to speak out against Obama, and Steele might not be the right guy for the job.

Thompson was one of the few Republicans who was relentless in going after Obama after he secured his nomination. This role may not be the best fit for him though; after all we saw his "lack of fire" during his brief presidential run. He might make a good second in command, someone tasked with coming up with ideas and the best way to get them out, i.e. "General Chairman." As far as Gingrich goes, everyone already knows about him and has an opinion. He says if enough people want him to run, he will.

Having a great speaker and a good face for the party is all nice. But the key will be organization. That is one reason Ed Gillespie was so successful. Whoever it ends up being, whether it is a name mentioned here or nor, they have a huge mess on their hands. It very well could be no one mentioned above, but those are the most prominent names out there. The next chairman will be decided by 168 RNC committeemen and women at the winter meeting in January.

Of Course: California Residents Fighting Prop 8

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: National Landscape 2008
• Date: Nov 11,2008

Time: The fight over gay marriage is not over in California, or anywhere else in the U.S. Street protests dragged into the weekend in Los Angeles and other Golden State cities, and legal challenges are already asking the California Supreme Court to overturn the Nov. 4 statewide vote on Proposition 8 that made same-sex marriage in California not only illegal but unconstitutional.

The people pushing gay marriage raised an astonishing $43.6 million, outspending their opponents by around $14 million, but losing the vote while getting around 47%. But just because you lost a statewide referendum, don't worry, you can just complain, protest, and guilt trip people until you get your way!

Less than one week after losing at the polls, those that were on the short end are already running to the courts to get the will of the people overturned. This post isn't about the gay marriage issue, though my position has been made clear, is it about people not liking decisions and thinking they can find ways around them. "Republican" Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is encouraging all this, which is very helpful. They also have a handful of reasons as to why the ban passed (it couldn't have just passed because people wanted it to) – from SF Mayor Gavin Newsome's arrogance to Obama driving up black turnout to the infamous school field trip to plain old voter confusion. Hey, I have some excuses why John McCain lost too!

If we are going to start running to the courts to overturn election results, maybe some McCain supporters should find a sympathetic judge to find a reason to delay Obama taking office or force a new election. It is about as absurd. Why even have votes anymore? If those dismayed by the results of California Proposition 8 can keep on fighting, maybe I should be able to do so with McCain. Maybe the casinos should just ignore the Issue 6 results and build one in Ohio anyways.