MSN had a "breaking news" headline that Mitch McConnell is "projected" to win ~ UGH!!!

MSN also had a "breaking news" headline from HuffPo that:


More as more is announced ~ Sooz

Dems are gonna get kicked.

DAMN!!!!!!!!!! ~ Walker wins in Wisconsin ~

Sooz

Looks that way, oskar ~

Sooz

How many rigged elections this time?

A terrible night for Dems ~ no denying the Dems got walloped, but while the GOP/TPers DID take the Senate, they DID NOT get the magic number 60 ~ in fact, at best it will be 54-46 ~

This is not an "excuse" ... but this was a truly horrendous electoral map for Dems this year ~ facing the GOP/TPers' extensive gerrymandering, the Dems had FAR too many seats it needed to protect ~

Sooz

In a nutshell ... ~ ~ Sooz

How Bad Was It For Democrats?
By Dylan Scott Published November 5, 2014, 1:12 AM EST

With few exceptions, 2014 turned out to be the worst possible scenario for Democrats. The Senate is not only back in the hands of Republicans, but with a margin of seats over Democrats that only the most optimistic scenarios envisioned. Governorships that Democrats expected to wrest from Republicans proved out of their reach, but worse yet they stunningly lost gubernatorial races in solidly blue states.

Heading into Election Day, everybody seemed to agree that Republicans had the edge, but it could go either way. Democrats had a plausible if unlikely path to Senate victory, and a promised silver lining in red state governor races. But at midnight on Wednesday, that conventional wisdom looks almost laughably dated. Republicans won almost every meaningful race and, even in a few where they lost, they made Democrats sweat more than anyone expected.

Ousting Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) and avoiding what would have been an unbelievable upset of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are about the only small morsels that Democrats can hold onto. Otherwise, the map couldn't have been any worse for Democrats -- or better for Republicans.

SENATE

Arkansas -- Democratic Sen. Mary Pryor looks to be heading to a double-digit loss to Rep. Tom Cotton.

Colorado -- Democratic Sen. Mark Udall was supposed to have a winning strategy to emulate, working off the playbook that propelled to Sen. Michael Bennet to an unexpected 2010 win and Democrats were exporting to other states. But Republican Cory Gardner beat Udall handily.

Georgia -- One possible bright spot for Democrats was Michelle Nunn beating David Perdue to steal a Republican seat. But rather than even force a runoff in January by keeping Perdue under 50 percent, Nunn lost fairly easily.

Kentucky -- No bigger prize than toppling Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. Democrats also had a top recruit in Alison Lundergan Grimes and spent a lot of money to beat McConnell. But he triumphed handily.

Iowa -- Like Colorado, a lightly blue state with a purportedly strong Democratic ground game -- and Republican Joni Ernst cruised to a win over Bruce Braley.

North Carolina -- Of all the toss-up races, Democrats seemed to be feeling the best about North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan. But Republican Thom Tillis won out in a state that went for Obama in 2008.

Virginia -- Nobody saw a close race here. Republican candidate Ed Gillespie pulled spending for his own campaign briefly in the final weeks of the campaign. But Democratic Sen. Mark Warner barely managed to eke out a win in a race that had observers in disbelief for most of the night.

GOVERNORS

Florida -- Polling showed the race neck-and-neck, and Democrats were gleeful at the prospect of knocking off Rick Scott. In the end, he edged out a win over Democratic candidate and former Republican governor Charlie Crist.

Illinois -- Few more reliably Democratic states than Illinois. But unpopular Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn fell to Republican Bruce Rauner.

Kansas -- Ultra-conservative Gov. Sam Brownback was a favorite target for Democrats and they had a good candidate in state Sen. Paul Davis, who was polling well. But in the end, Kansas's red tint won out.

Maryland -- Like Illinois, a Democratic stalwart flips to Republican, with Democrat Anthony Brown losing to Republican Larry Hogan.

Massachusetts -- The Illinois and Maryland recipe here, too. Democratic Martha Coakley loses a statewide race -- again -- this time to Republican Charlie Baker.

Wisconsin -- Even more than Brownback or Scott, Republican Gov. Scott Walker -- a presumed 2016 presidential aspirant -- would have been a prize for Democrats. Mary Burke, at times, looked primed to give him a run for his money. But on Election Night, the outcome was never in doubt: Walker wins.

Vermont -- This race had attracted attention only for the beards of some of its more obscure candidates. But Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, couldn't earn enough votes to win the seat outright. Instead, the decision will go to the state legislature.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/how-bad-was-it-for-democrats

Ok, I read something about exit polls, where they ask about Obama (don't know why), Ebola and ISIS. The results showed that people are angry with Obama and the GOP leadership. Still, they voted GOP. I guess their hatred of Obama overcame other things based on what they think they know about the above issues.

It's so nice to see educated voters.

An excellent commentary, that reaches the same conclusion as roseanne's above post ~ ~ Sooz

Voters reward radicalism as GOP scores big wins
11/05/14 08:00 AM—Updated 11/05/14 08:06 AM
By Steve Benen

Just two short years ago, President Obama cruised to an easier-than-expected national victory; Senate Democrats expanded their majority; and House Democratic candidates received a million more votes than their House Republican counterparts. The results led much of the political world to accept some basic truths.

Republicans, whether they liked it or not, would have to come up with some kind of coherent policy agenda. They’d have to stop alienating minority communities. They’d have to stop alienating women. They’d have to stop defining themselves by their contempt for the president. They’d have to try to govern. They’d have to stop creating dangerous, self-defeating crises on purpose. They’d have to start dealing with their demographic problems by reaching beyond the right-wing GOP base. They’d have to at least consider striking compromises on some key issues.

They’d have to honor the voters’ will, respect the fact that elections have consequences, and try to work in good faith with the Democrats who’d just won a national mandate.

These weren’t suggestions, so much as they were obvious, unavoidable certainties. The assumptions were foregone conclusions – if Republicans are to be a national party in the 21st century, they would have to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, learn from their failures, and grow up.

With all of this in mind, last night offered a powerful reminder: each of these precepts – literally, each and every one of them – was wrong. Republicans didn’t have to do any of these things. They didn’t need to govern or compromise. They didn’t need to keep the government open or pass bills.

In one case, they didn’t even need to avoid being indicted on multiple felony counts.

As an objective, quantifiable matter, GOP lawmakers created the most right-wing congressional caucus in modern American history, they created the most unpopular Congress in modern American history, and they created the least productive Congress in modern American history.

And it didn’t make a bit of difference. Voters decided to reward Republicans anyway.

Early last year, even the Republican National Committee itself seemed convinced that the party was badly off track and would need to make some common-sense adjustments to broaden its appeal. The “rebranding” campaign was immediately ignored, with Republican lawmakers doing pretty much the opposite of what the RNC recommended.

And yet, here we are.

There’s never just one explanation for election outcomes like these. Much of yesterday’s GOP victories were the result of structural, geographic factors that created a playing field tilted in Republicans’ favor. Some of this was the result of President Obama’s low approval rating and his party’s willingness to distance itself from the White House. Part of this is the fact that many Democratic voters tend to forget that federal elections are held every two years, not four, and that midterm elections actually count.

But the takeaway remains the same: congressional Republicans acted about as irresponsibly as any party in post-Civil War America and voters neither knew nor cared.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/voters-reward-radicalism-gop-scores-big-wins

Voter turnout?

I'm thinking "wackiest" is too neutral a word ~ I prefer socio-/psychopathic ~ ~ it proves how far we have declined that the GOP/TPers are celebrating the wins of these losers ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

The wackiest winners of the midterms
11/05/14 03:32 AM—Updated 11/05/14 09:23 AM
By Emma Margolin

Democrats took a drubbing in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which turned out to be a major victory for Republican candidates across the board – even for those with some seriously wacky histories. Here’s a breakdown of the winners whose past remarks may surprise you.

U.S. Rep.-Elect Glenn Grothman. In Wisconsin, Republican state Sen. Glenn Grothman beat out Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris, a fiscally conservative Democrat, for the state’s only open House seat. Before all the votes were counted, Grothman campaign spokesman Andy Post told FOX affiliate WITI he was encouraged to see people “flocking to Glenn’s message of smaller government, limited government and conservative values.” But that’s not the only message Grothman has endorsed.

During the 2011 protests against Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union crusade, Grothman called those occupying the state Capitol “slobs” and “hangers-on having a party.” His more recent doozies include waging a war on weekends via a proposal to roll back Wisconsin’s law requiring employers to give workers at least one day off per week. Grothman has also proposed banning Wisconsin public school teachers from recognizing different sexual orientations out of fear that such discussion could be part of an “agenda” to turn students gay. And last year, he called Planned Parenthood “the most overtly racist organization.” The list goes on.

Welcome to Washington, Rep. Grothman.

Gov. Paul LePage. Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage overcame a promising challenge from veteran Rep. Mike Michaud, a Democrat, who would’ve become the first openly gay person elected governor in the United States. But surprisingly, voters chose to stick with LePage, whose record includes telling the NAACP to “kiss [his] butt,” and comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo. LePage has also defended the use of the chemical BPA in bottles, saying that worst case scenario, “some women may have little beards.” And he’s advised students to “go to private schools,” if they want a good education. “If you can’t afford it,” he said, tough luck.” Again, the list goes on.

How did this man win? Interestingly, Ebola became a flashpoint late in the campaign, with voters receptive to LePage’s hard stance on a nurse’s self-quarantine after she returned to the state from treating patients in West Africa. LePage vowed to use “the full extent of his authority allowable by law” to keep her away from the public. Meanwhile, the Obama administration criticized harsh policies for healthcare workers fighting the Ebola epidemic. Though Obama didn’t mention the nurse during his trip last week to stump for Michaud, the Democrat – like most candidates this election cycle – probably could have fared better with more distance from the White House.

Rep. Michael Grimm. Voters in New York’s 11th Congressional District re-elected Republican Rep. Michael Grimm from Staten Island over Democratic challenger, Domenic M. Recchia Jr. “They hit me with everything they had,” said Grimm, a former FBI agent, during Tuesday’s celebration, “but we’re here tonight, victorious.”

The race, however, was not without a few hits – or at least, threatened hits – from Grimm himself. In one of the craziest moments caught on tape, the two-term congressman went after NY1 reporter Michael Scotto earlier this year, after Scotto asked him about a federal investigation into Grimm’s 2010 campaign fundraising.

“Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this f-cking balcony,” said Grimm to a visibly shaken Scotto. “You’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”

Grimm later laughed off the incident during a debate. “Sometimes I get my Italian up,” he said.

Jody Hice. The radio talk show host and Southern Baptist minister will be the next U.S. Representative for the 10th district of Georgia, edging out a victory over attorney Ken Dious. Hice’s greatest hits include mistaking a satirical essay for a confession that the gay community was trying to recruit and sodomize children. He also blamed the Sandy Hook shooting on America’s “kicking God out of the public square.” And he said that a woman could enter politics as long as she was “within the authority of her husband.”

To be fair, Hice is replacing GOP Rep. Paul Broun, who infamously called biology “lies straight from the pit of hell.” So perhaps Hice felt he had big shoes to fill on the outrage-front.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-wackiest-winners-the-midterms?cid=eml_mda_20141105

Much higher than expected, oskar ~ and so was the "big money" spent ~ the $$$ was staggering ~ in the Illinois governor's race, over $100M ~

Sooz

The higher the turnout the more emphatic become the Dem losses.

Now, can anyone tell me what the R agenda might be for the next two years? I've seem a few R political ads and they have ALL been negative shit about the D candidate and their allegiance or some reference to Obama.

Want to hazard a guess their main item for their agenda?

Cripple Obama and the Dems in preparation for the 2016 presidential election,

Turn America around, all the way back to the 19th century.
And accuse Obama of abusing his veto pen.

My answer....Impeach! Surely, they will try to start the proceedings. A committee will be formed and investigations (regurgitations) launched to find something to pin on him. Benghazi! EBOLA! ISIS! Bad dancing! Big ears!

Oh, ha ha ha ha ha! This headline slays me:

Last white Democrat from Deep South loses Congressional seat

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/05/politics/ ... A+Politics)

Not that it's funny that yet another Dem lost, but WTF? Seriously? There are no more white Democrats in the Deep South?

Too little ... but I'll take it ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Wednesday, Nov 5, 2014 3:13 PM UTC
The good news from last night: Here’s what went right in the midterms
Obviously, progressives took a beating on Tuesday. But Scott Brown losing wasn't the only silver lining.
Elias Isquith

There’s no way around it, so we might as well be frank: November 4, 2014 was really quite a terrible day for anyone who supports progressive politics. Sure, the most obvious of the many miseries was the Democratic Party’s loss of control over the U.S. Senate — which probably shouldn’t exist anyway, but will certainly be worse (from a lefty’s perspective) under the GOP. But it was also a pretty awful day for anyone who supports organized labor, reforms to legal immigration or increasing access to medical pot.

Nevertheless, hope springs eternal in the human breast: There were a few rays of sunshine on Tuesday, amidst all of those dark clouds. At least for those liberals willing to see them. So consider this list as a kind of palate cleanser or a pick-me-up — because when it comes to progressive victories in the 2014 midterm elections, this is pretty much all you’re going to get. Here, then, are the four silver linings of the otherwise disastrous-for-lefties 2014 midterm campaigns:

Silver lining #1 – Personhood amendments were rejected

Unfortunately, GOP Rep. Cory Gardner was able to profit from being incredibly slippery when it comes to his views on choice by defeating Democratic Sen. Mark Udall. But despite their fondness for Gardner, Colorado voters made clear (for the third time!) that they were not interested in mandating that state government views human life as beginning at conception. Much more surprisingly, voters in North Dakota, which is often at the forefront of the anti-choice movement, similarly shot down a personhood amendment to their state constitution. Coming at the end of a year that featured the Supreme Court’s rulings on Hobby Lobby and abortion clinics in Texas, these victories may make those losses marginally easier to take.

Silver lining #2 – Legal marijuana was embraced

Yes, as we noted above, medical pot went down to defeat in Florida on Tuesday (only because it required altering the state constitution, which necessitated winning with at least 60 percent) but it also passed in Guam, and recreational pot did even better than that. Oregon became the third state in which voters opted for legalization, and it was revealed earlier in the evening that Washington, D.C., did the same. Overall, the results in November did little to ruin what for the legal marijuana movement has been a pretty good year — and most anything that leads to more decriminalization, and the ultimate winding down of the War on Drugs, is to be celebrated.

Silver lining #3 – Scott Brown and Tom Corbett were defeated

This one is admittedly petty, but there was something undeniably satisfying about seeing the former Massachusetts GOP senator lose in squeaker against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Brown was a carpetbagger (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but more than that he was a glib demagogue, and all too happy to run a cynical and hysterical campaign of xenophobia and fear in the Granite State. Corbett, meanwhile, was just a disaster as the governor of Pennsylvania. And the fact that he probably resorted to race-baiting tactics from circa 1980 out of embarrassment over being the first governor of the Keystone State in modern history to lose a bid for reelection does not make it even a little bit more OK.

Silver lining #4 – Four GOP states raised their minimum wage

Last but not least, there was welcome news about economic policy from four of the most ruby-red of Republican states: In Arkansas, Nebraska, Alaska and South Dakota, voters chose decisively to hike the minimum wage. Arkansas will soon be implementing a minimum wage increase plan that some pundits think will immediately be among the most progressive in the entire country, and voters in the other three states were so clearly in favor of the idea, there’s reason to think this the start rather than the finish of raising the wage-floor in their states. If more GOP states follow down these four’s path, it’ll get harder for Republican politicians to sidestep the issue.

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/05/the_good_news_from_last_night_heres_what_went_right_in_the_midterms/

Democrats are going to have to become radicals. That's what voters seem to like.

It's going to be an interesting two years. For the first time the U.S. has a three party government. It's going to be fun watching the Democrats, the Rational Republicans and the Tea Party trying to function. The Rational Republicans no longer have the safety net of a Democrat controlled Senate to protect them. They now have the responsibility to actually govern. They can't just go along with the fanatics trying to show they are "good conservatives". The consequences of that approach are just too great. The fanatics, for their part, aren't about to suddenly grow brains. They will default on the debt. They will try to balance the budget no matter what the human and economic cost. They will try to undo Obamacare, block same sex marriage, devastate the social safety net and attack women's reproductive rights.

It seems like America had had enough of a growing economy, a falling unemployment rate and surging stock market. All that good stuff pales in the face of a single Ebola patient and a small group of lightly armed idiots in a desert far, far away. Oh well! I guess Americans get to spend the next two years living in Confucius' "interesting times".

Jim, I think you're exactly right.

VERY interesting commentary ~ and another bright spot in an otherwise dismal 2014 mid-term election ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ Sooz

AlterNet / By David Morris
Democratic Candidates May Have Lost, But Democratic Issues Won
American voters proved astonishingly liberal when it came to hot button issues.

November 5, 2014 | On Tuesday Democrats lost big when they ran a candidate, but won big when they ran an issue.

About 150 initiatives were on the ballot in 42 states. The vast majority were unrelated to issues dividing the two parties (e.g. raising the mandatory retirement age for judges, salary increases for state legislators, bond issues supporting a range of projects). But scores of initiatives did involve hot button issues, and on these, American voters proved astonishingly liberal.

Voters approved every initiative to legalize or significantly reduce the penalties for marijuana possession (Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C.) A measure to legalize medical marijuana lost in Florida but 57 percent voted in favor of it (60 percent was required for passage.)

Voters approved every initiative to raise the minimum wage (Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota). Voters in San Francisco and Oakland approved initiatives to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018. The good citizens of Oakland and Massachusetts overwhelmingly approved more generous paid sick leave.

Both Colorado and North Dakota voters rejected measures that would have given the fertilized egg personhood under their criminal codes.

Washington state voters approved background checks for all gun sales and transfers, including private transactions.

By a wide margin Missourians rejected a constitutional amendment to require teachers to be evaluated based on test results and fired or demoted virtually at will.

By a 59-41 margin North Dakotans voted to keep their unique statute outlawing absentee-owned pharmacies despite Walmart outspending independent pharmacist supporters at least 10 to one.

The vote in Colorado offers a good example of the disparity between how Americans vote on candidates and how we vote on issues. A few years ago the Colorado legislature stripped cities and counties of the right to build their own telecommunications networks but allowed them to reclaim that authority if they put it to a vote of their citizens. On Tuesday, eight cities and counties did just that. Residents in every community voted by a very wide margin to permit government owned networks even while they were voting by an equally wide margin for Republican candidates who vigorously oppose government ownership of anything.

Republicans did gain a number of important victories. Most of them dealt with taxes. Georgia voters by a wide margin supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting the state legislature from raising the maximum state income tax rate. Massachusetts’ voters narrowly voted to overturn a law indexing the state gasoline tax to the consumer price increase.

What did Tuesday tell us? When given the choice between a Republican and a Democrat candidate the majority of voters chose the Republican. When given a choice between a Republican and a Democrat position on an issue they chose the Democrat.

I’ll leave it up to others to debate the reasons behind this apparent contradiction. My own opinion is that ballot initiatives more accurately take the ideological pulse of the people because debates over issues must focus on issues, not personality, temperament or looks. Those on both sides of the issue can exaggerate, distort and just plain lie, but they must do so in reference to the question on the ballot. No ballot initiative ever lost because one of its main backers attended a strip club 16 years ago.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/democratic-candidates-may-have-lost-democratic-issues-won

IMO, "politics as usual" is failing so the biggest shit-disturber gets the votes.