Just wanted to take a moment this morning and say thank you to Ned Lamont, Tom Swan and the entire team that worked on Ned's behalf throughout the campaign. You energized us, you thrilled us, you inspired us. And most of all, you changed the national conversation at a time when the nation sorely needed to be discussing accountability for the failures and poor decisions of the Bush Administration. And for those elected officials who had been enabling and rubber stamping all of those failures without being held to account as well.
You enabled all of us to question Iraq without being called unpatriotic. You made it possible for all of us to speak up and say that we had enough. And for that, I thank you.
Tim Tagaris posted this YouTube on the Lamont campaign blog this morning, and I think what Tom Swan is saying applies to all of you as well. You are amazing people, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work and inspiration. The Democratic victories that we are seeing come from your hard work and dedication and perseverence.
Oh, and Joe -- just wanted to let you know that we heard your promises on holding the President accountable and you saying that "no one wanted to bring the troops hom from Iraq" more than you, that you would be caucusing with the Democratcs, and all of your other promises on the campaign trail. We're going to hold you to those promises. Every single one of them.
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IMPERCH!
Howard laid the groundwork, but the Lamont campaign got everything rolling.
A terrible defeat, but so much good came from Ned’s run that it isn’t one completely.
Of course, there’s that small matter of the petty cash fund to explain first.
twolf1 @
3
Isn’t that what a bird does?
And Ct.Bob, Keith, Maura, Spazeboy…thank you for being patriots.
EPU’d from below:
Richmond @ 174
Someone else said earlier that history might well judge Ned as the McCarthey of this election.
A quick question before the comments start — what’s EPU’d?
Good Morning, Aquaria–
What’s the word on VA/MT?
And don’t forget that the progressive turnout in CT to support Ned likely helped to propel Chris Murphy to victory in CT-5 and forced Chris Shays to run harder (and harder to the left) than he has in his life in CT-4.
YAY HOWARD DEAN!!!!
Speaking on CSPAN2 now; he says we are going to keep the organizers in the field, that we are going to continue as if yesterday never happened.
F*CKIN’-A, MAN!!!! We are in this for the long run!!!
The press is asking Howard about Iraq…and they miss the most important message he imparts, lets it pass unnoticed.
We are establishing permanent Democratic bases on American soil, people!!!
Pffft. All that GOP money didn’t come without strings. Lieberman will put the knife in our backs at a crucial moment, count on it.
Thank you, Mr. Lamont and family.
Great patriots!
(I really, really hate Joe.)
retirin’ in five @ 9
EPU = Evil Parallel Universe, a frequent commenter who ran into a string of threads where he came late and posted, only to see that the discussion had moved on to a new topic on a new thread.
EPU’d means you had a comment from the last thread that you wanted to bring forward. (Best done when the topics are related, to avoid hijacking the new thread.)
Rayne @ 12
YEAH - That sounds as nice as ‘The Scream!’
hey if we impeach bush and cheney warcrimes, torture, treason revealing our spy’s identity, putting Atom bomb plans on the net in ARABIC, etc then isn’t Nancy Pelosi next in line to be president? I may be wrong but impeachment might be a good idea. Plus I don’t think presidents under impeachment can pardon people? Watch Scooter Libby sing then!
I love Dean!
(I did not appreciate his stance on the destruction of Lebanon, though.)
GO DEMS and INDYS!
EPU’d so here again is Howard Dean on the Netroots.
Dean press conference at National Press Club. I live-blogged it. Maybe some typing mistakes.
Question: What role did the liberal blogosphere play?
Thanks Peterr @ 15. Long-time lurker. Inadequate vocab. I blame myself.
Sweeeet music to my ears. Let us establish bases of freedom across this country, in every nook and corner, so all people of every financial and ethnic background feel free, and have the right to earn a living, and take care of their family.
YEEEEEESSSSSSS
Last night I was all over the net and surfed the various television networks for news. The very best infornmation I got, particularly on the VA Senate race, was right here. The commentators here knew there stuff.
The level of detail concerning various precincts and their voting patterns was very impressive. They were way ahead of ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and MSNBC, not to mention other blogs [TPM and KOS were frankly disappointing]. KUDOS!
The wave we saw last night started in Connecticut August 8th.
If not for that Lamont victory, national Dems would never have found the courage to stand up for Iraq, and we’d probably be crying about how we came up four seats short of the House.
Prof at 19 — do you have a link to that? That’s a fantastic quote from Dean and I’d love to link it up this morning.
Dean talking about candidate school and Rahm and Nancy and the next class to emerge out of 2008.
This is where Rahm will be a danger to us; he’ll kill off the babies in the cradle, so to speak.
What does it take to get Rahm removed from his seat in DCCC?
God, if only we could stick Lamont in a seat like that instead of Rahm, the wonders that would emerge…
Correction: I dropped the all-important “not.” Here is what Dean said:
Prof @ 19
NPR says it is 8000 between Webb and Allen.
This right?
Where is Aquaria the guru?
The more important thing about the Rahm business is that you don’t stab in the back the people who do the heavy lifting for you.
I’ve said it many times here, but it bears repeating, until these numbskulls get it.
It is not the moderates who turn the wheels on this party. They’re not sure enough of where they stand to commit to the party.
It is the base, the liberals, who do.
It is the liberals who make that extra phone call, knock on one more door, plug in one more page of data, log in one more check, drive one more person to the polls.
It’s not the moderates who do that.
It’s the people who care, the people with conviction and a preternatural faith that we can make a difference.
It is the conviction and enthusiasm of the base that inspires the squishy middle that, hey, maybe we’re onto something. Bored, disinterested, wishy-washy people can’t do that. Americans like winners and people who seem to be onto one. They’ll respond if they think that something’s going on over there. That comes from a fired up base. And the Dem base is liberal, like it or not..
WE are the base. WE are the party. The moderates are just bandwagon jumpers, hanging around only when we’re winning and abandoning us when we aren’t. All they care about is their own fingers and toes. WE care about the party, enough to sacrifice our time and money and energy for it.
So Rahm and Chuck and all the DLC triangulators can just bite me.
CHS — I think Dean’s still speaking now, might not have a transcript for a while.
Dean’s still on CSPAN2.
old gold @ 22
FDL was THE resource of the night, hands down. And that fact that the system operated so smoothly was awesome. Christy, Jane, Howie, TRex et al — THANK YOU!!!!
People, it’s like the man says right now…Dean’s just told the press that the 2008 race is won in 2007.
The race starts NOW.
Christy — well said, thanks.
Prof 19 — that’s great. Thanks for transcribing it.
Thank You to Ned Lamont & his family; Ned’s campaign staff; and to all the citizens, including those from the FDL community, who worked so hard to put a good man in the Senate. I, for one, am very grateful that you all worked so hard to speak truth to those in power.
LJ/Aquaria @ 28
AMEN! VERY well said (all of it).
(psst: VA/MT?)
Prof @ 26
And how about that song?
As “someone” said:
thenthelightningwill (1 month ago)
Rock on Jerry McNerney!
mrsmarks @ 30
Thanks to Jamie — he kept the whole thing going. He did an amazing job.
testaroo @ 10
Here’s the VA results:
Precincts Reporting: 2439 of 2443 (99.84%)
Registered Voters: 4,555,672 Total Voting: 2,365,081 Voter Turnout: 51.92 %
Candidates Party Vote Totals Percentage
J H Webb Jr Democratic 1,171,813 49.55%
G F Allen Republican 1,164,767 49.25%
Expect Allen to make some noises about recounting, but conceding at the last minute. Doesn’t want people looking too closely at the votes, with the FBI sniffing around.
MT:
D Jon TESTER 195,235 49
R Conrad BURNS 193,506 48
Expect a recount.
I liked the MSNBC crew with the addition of Keith O. Tweety was more than a pudwipe though. He must have been sore about the drubbing across the chin his brother took by hanging his hat on (R) Lynn Swann.
The CNN crew was lame-o.
When are those chowder heads going to dtich the useless shill that is Dollar Bill Bennett? Or was eh there to keep the odds/bets in line?
-GSD
LJ/Aquaria - so very, very right. And to the commenter who said that right here on FDL was the best up to date election return information anywhere - 100% correct. Much thanks to you and others who together made the picture (the part we could see anyway) totally clear.
Christy, Jane, and others have gathered quite a group and it was wonderful last night.
also, thanks for all the ‘drugs’, tea and other ‘condiments offered to keep me off the ledge. I was very nervous. This site held my hand mucho and I thank everyone.
The site was amazing last night. Minimal lags, if any!
I think Dean just made an incorrect attribution, but the quote is fantastic:
OMG. Why the hell was this man not our president instead of that mumbling coke-head dry-drunk?
As I said here many moons ago, social change happens very fast in the late stages. But there was a long gestation phase, starting with Dean, then triggered by the netroots and Ned, and it looks as if it all happened at once. But this thing has been gestating for over 20 years. Now is birth and then development. This is a significant change in the gestalt from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft (see my post in previous thread). There is also a demographic component that I haven’t seen anybody spending any time on here, and that is the fact that the boomers have changed the social, political and economic landscape at each phase in their lifecycle.
Rayne @ 41
I have been asking this over and over for the past two years.
And yes, I concur wholeheartedly with old gold’s comment above. Bravo to the entire FDL gang and Jamie on last night’s performance.
This site was the best source for info, caught stuff that I could later validate at DailyKos. DKos also had lags in service, aggravating when folks were coming into the office continually looking for news. Hard to go chasing news when you’re on Skype with voters; was easier just to stay on FDL and hit Refresh Comments between calls.
Just like Joe,I’m making a list of all the national Dems who threw Ned under the bus. I am FURIOUS with them and it will give me much schendenfreuden(sp?)to watch HoJO screw them seven ways to Sunday for the next six f******g years.
Votes for independant candidates played a huge role in many races we followed. They got 4%, 5%, even 10% in one case, enough to let the incumbent win.
When it’s a close race and it really matters, why oh why do people vote for the third party? End of rant, and time for coffee.
The fortune cookie that ‘Kevin & Kell’ delivered me this morning:
Bagdikian’s Observation:
Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” on a ukelele.
Joe needs to be taken off his committee seats. He’s the very-junior senator from CT, and NOT A DEMOCRAT. (Harry, do you hear that? Do you understand the difference between Joe-the-Democratic-Senator and Joe-the-C4L-Senator?)
And next time, we take out the triangulators!
Thanks! LJ/Aquaria!
What are the murmurs about the absentees, etc. in MT? Any idea which way they could break?
In your experience do you think that a 1800 vote defecit is likely to be made up by the likely split in Absentees? i.e given the trending probablilty, would a 55-45 split x the number of absentee ballots make up the 1800 vote spread?
Also, I heard the yellowstone recount was based on adding the absentees, which they indeed did. How many outlying absentees are out there?
Basically, I wonder if we are going to be playing this poker game from the tall stack or the small stack…
Great day for NH.
NH was at one time in my life in the 80’s and 90’s. The MOST Republican state in the nation.
NH held the Gov’s seat with a record 74% victory for (D) John Lynch. The 2 congressional seats flipped R to D.
The state senate and house(There are over 400 NH house members) flipped R to D.
Also the local religious whacko lost for executive council too.
-GSD
One house of Congress, maybe both. 28 Democratic governors. A lot of the GOP’s leading instigators gone down in flames.
Nice work, everybody.
hi, egregious!
NH also passed a referendum question that prevents emminent domain use for private businesses too.
That was a good win also.
-GSD
‘morning all. I had to root around the web to find out how certain races went before I landed here. I had six or seven hours of heavenly sleep, with a wonderful wake up to screaming headlines of imminent D takeover. Life is sweet. Did you ever go to sleep Aquaria?
Ned and Dean are the catalyst for yesterday. This defiantly has been brewing for a long time, my whole life basically, (I’m 35) This is the end of the baby boomer generation’s rule. The Rep. rule that started in 1980 just came to an end. It’s a generational shift and if we hold these Dems. to being honest it cold last for a generation.
LJ/Aquaria said in #28
So Rahm and Chuck and all the DLC triangulators can just bite me.
How is it decided who chairs the DCCC/DSCC? Now the real work starts. As I said somewhere else here, no coffeebreak for Sysyphus.
GSD @ 48
400 house members?
In NH?
Get the fuck out of here! (said in an amazed, amused way!)
You’re kidding!
Texas must have 5-10 times the population of NH, and we have 150 Lecherators, and 31 Sin-nators.
Rats! My post was lost– (to repost/abbreviate)
Thanks for the update Aquaria,
What is your feeling about the absentees in MT? how many are out there? (I heard the yellowstone recount thing was about having already added them into their results)
If they break for burns would the likely percentages of that break times the number of absentees overcome the 1800 vote defecit?
Basically… will we be playing this game from the tall or the short stack?
Webb-Allen as of 10:19et
Webb 1,170,766
Allen 1,162,719
Parker 26,048
Tester-Burns as of 10:45et
Tester 195,235
Burns 193,506
Indep 10,181
Hayduke @ 53
Well hayduke, I agree in part. But the boomers are really going to be pissed when their retirement package isn’t what they thought it was going to be, and their health care isn’t going to be what they thought it would be. And they are going to be voting seniors. There are big changes coming: Universal health care, Universal education, universal pension system (not social security), etc.
LJ/Aquaria @ 55
TJfromCA @ 54
How is it decided who chairs the DCCC/DSCC? Now the real work starts. As I said somewhere else here, no coffeebreak for Sysyphus.
If memory serves, it’s a clique-y little insider Beltway thing.
But the Beltway just changed. Still, habits die hard for these fucktards.
Most of us around here found a way around that little problem.
We don’t bother with them.
That’s right.
Donate to the DNC, or donate to the candidates directly.
Circumvent them. If you take away their money, you take away their power.
The problem with MSNBC is that Tweety is in love with the sound of his own voice. I bet he spoke more than all the other people on the network combined and most of it was drivel.
Re MT, comments from an atty in MT wrt recount: http://wakeupdemocracy.blogspot.com/
LJ/Aquaria @ 37
Automatic recount (paid by the State) if vote is within 1/2 %. With 388,741 votes, that means if margin is fewer than 1,944 votes. Right now, you are showing 1,729, so recount.
(But provisional ballots not yet counted.)
(And of course, the National Republican Party will happily pay for a recount. And why not also in Virginia?)
testaroo @ 56
The absentees are part of the total for any of the electronic districts, so that means MT is probably just about done. It’s the provisionals that will need counting now, and those will probably break for Tester.
Burns will have to find the votes. They’re not going to find him. Let’s put it that way.
(Crap… formatting error. The comment about an oligarchy @60 was mine… don’t want Aquaria implicated by it!)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 24
No. although I blockquoted it, it was my own typing. (Bad form?)
It is 95% correct. I left out a sentence or two at most, and a few other words, but it is mostly right-on. I type very fast, and very accurately (except for leaving out “not” and misspelling “from” as “form” and blowing the names of our two netroots candidates).
Prof @ 63
Thanks for the update. I wasn’t sure how MT did recounts.
New Hampshire rocks! Thank you GSD and other Granite Staters.
Huge win. I love NH’s misty morning and it was, as usual, fun up here with a big GOTV and passion.
i’ve been tearful since 8pm last nite. Misty morning blues.
sofistic @ 58
Your right! Its often true that people at the end of their life realize that they have been wrong all along. And those old Regan Republicans will be voting for social services that they RAILED against. Still, that generation just got shown the door last night as far as being in control of the national direction (not completely but in large measure).
testaroo @ 59
anyone have a final number on Wyoming ?
Trauner
Cubin
wee small hours Trauner refused to concede
Hey you guys! This is not the end of the boomer’s rule! We never got started - got hijacked by asshole young republicans who couldn’t get it right back in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Oh wait. Hillary is one of us . . .
Aquaria…
I guess that is the best we can hope for. Thanks for the info.
Over the last 24 hours, you may have found a new vocation as a pollster/consultant!
…….At least I buy what you’re selling.
–Again, thanks.
I have this wonderful picture in my head of Nacny Pelosi standing up to the Ringwath King (Donald Rumsfield) and saying. I AM NO MAN!!! Arrrgggghhh.
Prof - I heard a quarter of 1% on CNN this a.m.
Prof @ 63
GSD @ 38
Speaking of which, when they announced the McCaskill victory at around 2am Eastern (which may not have been the first time), Ms. Redshift swears she hear someone off-camera say “goddammit!” and it sounded like Tweety. She was able to run it back several times on Tivo, but when she tried to save it for posterity, our Tivo was being flaky. Did anyone else hear that, or was she hallucinating from lack of sleep? I haven’t seen mention of it anywhere.
LJ/Aquaria @
56
NH truly has the “citizen legislator” and it is the 3 rd largest legislative body in the world behind the US congress and India, or some other large democracy like Indonesia I think.
-GSD
A frequent and OMNISCIENT commenter.
1. I did say you all worry too much, and I was right.
2. Plus, I own the whole Rover not a genuis thing and Repugs are toast (and this is going way back), cause I even gave reasons why he is not a genuis and why they would be toast. Hmmmmmmmmm, some Universe was pretty much right on the money on that one.
Disclaimer: I did think that Lamont had a chance and if he lost it would be closer, but, that’s the exception that proves the omniscience.
But Lamont in the primary and general was not a pyrrhic victory by any means, and all who partook in it deserve a great deal of credit and thanks from the rest of us.
Angie,
Well deserved tears for a great day. I love NH too. Even a tad bit more today than yesterday, with all apologies to Chicago.
-GSD
GSD @ 77
Man…
I shoulda hooked up with that guy from NH back in the day.
I would love living in a place like that. That’s just awesome!
cbl @ 72
Still down 800, with part of one county not yet in. Don’t know the story beyond that, but digging.
(Used to live in WY for a time.)
I would love for someone to crunch the numbers and give us an ROI for the netroots/actblue versus Rahm and Chuck show. Netroots won races with significant less money. Could be a real eye-opener.
Nah, aquaria, NH doesn’t have enough sunshine. I just talked with my brother in Western MA. He is thinking of leaving for better climes. His S.A.D. is out of control.
Thank YOU, Christy!
You are the Goddess of GOTV!
We got ‘em down and we gotta keep kick’n!
testaroo @ 73
Ha, thanks, but I’m not good enough at math to be a pollster! Statistics? :::SHUDDER::::
And I’m too, er, honest and no-nonsense to be a consultant. I have no patience for stroking egos, and most pols want that.
I’m better off being an armchair analyst, or tucked away in some obscure campaign.
Gnome de Plume @ 72
I was about to say that. Those born between 1946 and 1955 were the Woodstock/summer of love generation, and they were certainly not republicans.
LJ/Aquaria @ 28
That was so good, and so true, that reading it made me vibrate. Would you mind if I quote you? I’ll have some faxes to send to Rahm and his guys next week.
kristinejoy @ 82
Chris Bowers has a good rundown at MyDD. May not have all the detailed numbers you want, but it’s a good comparison piece.
Gnome de Plume @ 82
My H.A.D (HadENOUGHSanAntonioSummersThatLast10MonthsAYear Affective Disorder) could go for some rain and seasons.
Gnome de Plume @ 72. I mean baby boomer generation fairly loosely. To me the baby generations height of power was the 1980’s and that is Regan/Bush’s decade. That brand of baby boomer is finished forever as far as dictating the direction of the country. The 60’s radicals are pre baby boomer to me.
SusanD @ 86
Just credit me. All I ask. :)
You are amazing people, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your hard work and inspiration. The Democratic victories that we are seeing come from your hard work and dedication and perseverence.
And what a learning experience! Christy, Jane, TRex, Howie Klein, YouTube, the Authors Round-Tables, ActBlue, Call for Change - look at how much ground the progressive movement has covered since 2004 in bringing great people and great ideas together. These are some seriously capable people doing this stuff, and they’ll be around for a good long time.
And look at what difference it has made.
This is just the beginning. Now the real hard work comes - holding our elected officials accountable (every single one of them) and making sure we do all we can for 2008.
The future starts now.
-GFO
Well, hell. I’m just gonna call Ciro’s office and ask what the inside scoop is on TX-23. I gotta go to bed.
What a great night, great victory. I love you all for your passion and commitment.
GuyFromOhio @ 92
ditto!
EPU at 78
not exactly God but close!!
Omniscience has its advantages.
Baby Boomers: 1946 to 1960
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers
Thankyou thankyou thankyou
You guys have done so much work, for all the right reasons.
A good job well done.
Thanks to Jane whom I have a crush on and is a wicked good writer.
Thanks to Christy who was the first person I found on the web that seemed to have a human head on her shoulders. I’m proud to have been a firedog since before we knew Redd was Christy.
Then comes Trex and Pach, a true breath of delightful snark.
The commentators are first rate everyne has such a heart.
Thanks and Congratulations to everyone. I’m so happy this morning!
Rahm Emmanuel: Dizzy ballerino.
Yes, hell, yes! Christy, Ned Lamont even made it OK down here in
redpurple/blue NC to question the war. What a class act. Ned Lamont is a leader. This was not a loss for the Netroots. Through the Netroots this campaign’s message was spread outside of Connecticut and we all have seen the benefits. We were energized and motivated early on by what we saw happening with this campaign and it gave us the encouragement to keep fighting in all the different races we have all been working on in our own states.Just so you all know - in case you haven’t heard. Larry Kissell is only down 346 votes. There should be an automatic recount triggered. There are several hundred provisional ballots to count as well. Don’t chalk this one up for a loss yet.
Imm - To my credit, I’ve never claimed to be a god (it would be in poor taste given my stone cold atheism), though I thought about being a demagogue, till I realized I’d have to switch parties. ;-)
BoiBoi @ 96
Oh, what a beautiful, morning, Oh, what a beautiful day….
Wow Hayduke, I never thought of Reagan as being a baby boomer phenom. I lived in Canada during those years and saw him through that lens. To this day I am amazed at my cohorts who are racist, selfish conservatives. part of me has always been a naive optimist who thinks evil will be defeated.
Hayduke @
75
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Eowyn.
Looks like WY-AL is headed for a recount, even though the last precincts have yet to report. GOP claiming victory, but Dem says “not so fast.”
Allen lost according to Toobin on cnn.
YAY! Go WEBB!
Prof @ 64
My mistake. The rule is 1/4 of 1%, which would be 850 votes.
The Montana election law states:
sofistic,
Careful what you’re saying about Boomers born between 46 and 55 not being Republicans. You’re talking about the Shrub and Lee Atwater, just to name two.