Fifty-eight

Cross posted at Open Salon:

So Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has now defeated Ted Stevens for Alaska's contested Senate seat. That accomplishes two very important things: one, it cleanly eliminates a convicted felon from the Senate chamber, a person who is a clear enemy of progress and the kinds of change we need; and two, it brings the Democratic Senate majority to 58 seats, two shy of a filibuster-proof majority.

Weeks ago, I read in DailyKos a post from Kos himself that Democrats needed to crush the Republicans. Well, from a popular vote perspective, Obama doubled the victory margin that Bush43 had over Kerry, and was the first Democrat in more than 30 years to win with more than 50% of the vote. From an electoral college viewpoint, Obama annihilated McCain, beating him 365-173, a 192-vote margin.

In the Senate, the Dems have so far picked up eight additional seats. In the House, it's a gain of 20 more seats, and an 80-seat majority. Some pundits were saying that only a super-majority in the Senate would signal a Dem blow-out. Not to be glib, but I PISS ON THEM!

So, now we have two unresolved seats remaining: in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman leads Al Franken by about 200 votes amidst a statewide recount which is due to be completed by or before Dec. 5. It looks promising for Franken. In Georgia, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, who you might remember won the Lee Atwater Award in 2002 when he successfully conflated his triple amputee opponent, Democratic incumbent Max Cleland, with Osama bin Laden, will face a runoff election on Dec. 2 against challenger Jim Martin. Rasmussen has Chambliss by 4% in their latest poll, with a margin of error of + or - 4%, so it's a statistical dead heat. If you know any voters in Georgia who are election-fatigued, call them and tell them to go vote!

Even though I think 58 or 59 seats in the Senate will be enough to have the GOP by the balls, getting to 60 would be an achievement like no other in this polarized nation. Having Georgia with a blue seat would effectively draw a blue line around the south and prairie states who refuse to acknowledge reality. It's only fitting that a museum honoring biblical creationism, and Branson, MO (where old entertainers like the Osmonds still think they are relevant), are in this territory.