Thursday, November 13, 2008

Ted Stevens now behind (uh, in vote count)

For those of us who've been hoping that convicted US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) would be voted out of office and not have to face an almost certain expulsion, there's some good news.

Absentee ballots and votes cast at the advance polls have been counted since last Tuesday's election, when Stevens appeared to have a 3000 vote lead despite his conviction -- confirming suspicions by many in the Lower 48 that corruption and greed are part of an oil economy no matter if there is democracy or not (as in Saudi Arabia). With about 35,000 or so ballots left to be counted, Stevens' Democrat challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has begun to pull out a very narrow lead over Stevens -- first just three votes, now 814.

The mail-in ballots are mostly coming in from parts of Alaska that tend to be friendly to Democrats, but Begich was also leading in many parts of Bush country. If the trend lines continue that will be another Dem pickup and increase the chances the donkey will get closer to the magic number of 60. There's still that recount in Minnesota between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, while there's a runoff in Georgia between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin.

One other thing -- why hasn't Missouri announced who won the Presidential in that state? Could it be embarrassed to have not picked the winner for the first time in 52 years -- or are there still absentee ballots waiting to be counted there? We just don't know.

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