U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Jim Martin isn’t waiting for election workers to finish counting the ballots in Fulton County before he starts blanketing the airwaves.
And maybe this is just me, but I think he mentions Pres.-elect Barack Obama once or twice in there.
Peach Pundit has a post about the death of Zoo Atlanta’s pregnant elephant, likening the tragedy to the devastation that befell the Republican Party on election night.
In other news, a donkey assumed dead in a catastrophic 2004 landslide (well, not really) was discovered alive and grinning late Tuesday.
When DeKalb County Commissioner Burrell Ellis drops his title next year and assumes his newly elected role of County CEO, he’ll take office without some of the powers enjoyed by his predecessors.
On Nov. 4, more than 64 percent of DeKalb County voters approved an amendment that reins in some powers of CEO — the only office of its kind in metro Atlanta in which a single person oversees the day-to-day functions of government and sets the agenda for county commission meetings.
Once Ellis takes office, that agenda-setting power will belong to the commission according to rules it adopts. (Commissioner Jeff Rader says staff is currently at work on the rules.) If the CEO wants to introduce legislation, he would have to do so through a commissioner who would then send it to the appropriate committee. Rader says legislation could be expedited if it’s an urgent matter.
The CEO would still submit the budget, make staff decisions, and appoint department heads, among other powers. If a tiebreaker vote is needed, the CEO would cast it if each member of the commission requested he or she do so.
Introduced by state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Ellenwood, the amendment has an understandable critic: Vernon Jones, the soon-to-be former CEO.
ERICK ERICKSON: Hitching his sled to Palin's snowmobile
Peach Pundit and Red State poobah Erick Erickson has caused an e-hubbub with a post on Red State titled Operation Leper.
In it, Erickson declares war on McCain campaign staffers who criticize McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin:
We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you’ll see us go to war against those candidates.
It is our expressed intention to make these few people political lepers.
Since Tuesday’s loss to Obama, several McCain staffers have been doing their darnedest to toss Palin under the wheels of the Straight Talk Express.
The most damning revelation (assuming its true) came yesterday, when Fox reported that Palin thought Africa was a country.
The New Republic’s Christopher Orr suggests Erickson’s militant defense of Palin will drive conservatives away from the G.O.P.:
The tent grows smaller by the day.
Andrew Sullivan, a conservative critic of Palin and her wing of the Republican Party, mocks Erickson:
Let’s have a beer soon, Erick, shall we?
I know Erick and am, frankly, surprised by the carelessness of his attack.
If you turn wayward McCain staffers into lepers, Erick, you’re only gonna make them more popular with the party’s evangelical, WWJD-types.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Somewhat lost amid the shuffle of the presidential race and a handful of legislators losing seats were the various referenda (or referendums, for non-English majors) that appeared on local ballots. Here’s a wrap-up:
I wonder how Levi Johnston is feeling today.
One of the conundrums of the AJC reorganization was the company’s announcement last year that it would spend $30 million to upgrade its newspaper printing operations in Gwinnett. That’s a lot of wampum to pour into what we’ve been told over and over again is fast becoming outdated information-delivery technology.
The most immediate effect of the decision to expand and enhance the Gwinnett plant is the planned mothballing of the paper’s old press downtown. Last week, company officials told employees that about 100 press-related jobs at Marietta Street would disappear by the end of the year.
Behold, Buckhead! On Election Night, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss hosted his campaign party at the Intercontinental Hotel in the posh enclave in North Atlanta. When not shaking hands or buying more drink tickets for the cash bar, party guests monitored election results on screens placed around the ballroom. Notables included U.S. Reps. Lynn “Uppity” Westmoreland and Phil Gingrey, state lawmakers, and even DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones.
To view more photos of the night — and see how the state’s most well-connected Republicans looked when John McCain conceded to Barack Obama — check out the Sideshow.
(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)
A story recently posted by the AJC says the unimaginable: that statewide voter turnout for this election was lower than it was in 2004. Although there are nearly a million more potential voters than there were four years ago and the actual number of ballots cast was higher, the turnout was only 74 percent, compared to 77 percent in 2004. How could that be, when election officials were predicting a 85 percent turnout?
Well, UGA political science professor Charles Bullock, an expert on voting issues, admits it’s a surprise to him, given that voter turnout across the country was the highest it’s been in a century. However, Bullock says that if state officials based their Election Day expectations on early-voting numbers, it’s no shock that the reality fell short.
“Early voting has been shown not to increase overall turnout,” he says. “It’s often simply a reallocation of votes.”
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss says he’s not waiting for “several thousand” votes to be counted before he begins another political campaign — a potentially vigorous Dec. 2 runoff against Democratic nominee Jim Martin.
What may decide whether the incumbent Republican and Martin — a former state lawmaker who fought an uphill battle to get this far — do continue their campaigns are an undetermined number of votes that include provisional, absentee and military ballots. The results of those ballots, Chambliss said in a conference call today, may not be known until this weekend. The most recent General Election results show his support literally a fraction under the 50 percent he needed to win another six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
Chambliss said 4,000 votes would put him over the top and avoid a runoff. He adds that absentee ballots — of which he estimates 12,000 in the U.S. Senate race have yet to be counted — have traditionally played into the Republicans’ favor. Even with the surge in Democratic voters this election cycle, however, he remains optimistic.
Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat is among several that Democrats are eying to add to the party’s power in Congress. Chambliss said he expects well-publicized and support-generating visits to the state by Pres.-elect Barack Obama and other Democratic luminaries, as well as an influx of money from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Georgia’s Democratic state legislators may be the only members of their party who failed to hitch a even a short little ride on Obama’s coattails.
The Republican edge in the state House of Representatives looks to drop from 34 seats to a 33 or 32 seat margin. Whoopie.
No incumbent state senators lost and Republicans look set to hold onto their 34-22 margin. (more…)
Even with all votes for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat yet to be counted, Democratic nominee Jim Martin told reporters Wednesday afternoon he and incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss are in a runoff.
“The runoff race begins right now,” Martin said, adding that he would not request a recount and instead let the numbers speak for themselves.
Earlier in the day, Chambliss told the AJC he’s not ready to concede to a runoff but that he’s in “full campaign mode.” As of this writing, Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s website shows 96 percent of precincts report the race 49.9-46.7 in Chambliss’ favor. Libertarian nominee Allen Buckley garnered 3.4 percent of the vote.
Martin said he’s been in touch with Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. If Chambliss’ lead remains below 50 percent, look for heavy campaigning from the President-elect and other familiar Democratic faces.
McCain’s concession speech wasn’t just gracious. He also managed to pivot from the narrow perspective of the moment to generously recognize the magnitude of this election. From AP:
“[Obama's] success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance,” McCain said, adding that he “deeply admired” Obama for inspiring the hopes of people “who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence” in electing a president.”
Unsurprisingly, Obama’s victory speech took things even higher by elevating his “Yes We Can” mantra into a tight expression of the American spirit.
But after blogging all evening and jumping frenetically from website to website, I finally felt the significance of the moment when I heard the honking begin on Peachtree outside a Midtown condo. (more…)
NPR’s interview on the significance of Obama’s victory with Atlanta’s own U.S. Rep. John Lewis.
Just heard a recording on WABE-FM (Morning Edition) of two Chambliss supporters comparing Obama’s victory to “another 9/11″ in terms of the damage to the country. Amazing.
Still with only 96 percent of ballots counted, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has slipped below 50 percent. In all likely, this means he’ll be forced into a runoff against Democrat Jim Martin.
Chambliss 49.8; Martin 46.8.
Big caveat: This is so tight that Chambliss still could jump above 50 percent.
But if he stays below 50 percent, it’s huge. A runoff would make Georgia the national political battleground for the next four weeks — until the Dec. 2 runoff.
Democratic Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell is running almost even with Republican Lauren McDonald. This wasn’t unexpected, but Powell’s results are impressive considering all these obstacles he’s had to overcome.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Powell is running a percentage point ahead of Barack Obama and Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin. He’s at 47.3 percent, just half a point behind McDonald. That lead seems likely to close, because the votes that remain to be counted are likely to lean Democratic. (more…)
Late counts of early voters still may squeak Jim Martin into a runoff against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s website has Chambliss at 50.3 with 96 percent of ballots counted. Buoyed early in the evening by early counts in heavily white North Georgia, Chambliss’ lead has slipped throughout the nigh — first as votes came in from the closer suburbs, then from Fulton and DeKalb, and finally additional early voters — who tilted young and black.
Less than an hour after Pres.-elect Barack Obama’s victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park, more than 300 people gathered early Wednesday morning at the intersection of Jackson Street and Auburn Avenue outside the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church — the same house of worship where Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. preached and organized.
Chants of “Yes, We Did,” drum circles and blaring car horns motivated the crowd of young and old and all races and ethnicities. There was even the electric slide.
I left at 1:45 a.m. and people were still going strong. Here are just a few of the photos. We’ll post more tomorrow as well as snapshots and reports of the Georgia GOP party held in Buckhead.
Just got a message from the mayor’s office:
We have received some calls that voters have been turned away from a polling place because their names were not found in the system. Anyone who is registered and has problems should ask to speak with a legal counsel or county official before accepting a provisional ballot. I strongly encourage everyone to participate in the democratic process today by exercising their sacred right to vote.
Yes, polls close in 60 minutes, but the number to the Fulton County election command center is 404-612-8300. Prepare to wait a few minutes, but live people are standing by to answer questions. A Fulton spokeswoman tells me that only a few problems have been reported today, and most of those came from people showing up at the wrong polling place.
Our staff photographer Joeff Davis will be covering a number of events around town tonight, and he’ll be posting images on this post. Check back later for updates, and stay tuned for our election results liveblog at 6 p.m.
(Photographs by Joeff Davis)
Has anyone witnessed any voting problems or rule-breaking?
James Hervey, a frequent CL commenter who blogs at www.thearcoftime.com, reports on his Facebook page that he saw poll workers in North Ormewood today wearing Planned Parenthood t-shirts. He reported it to the Secretary of State’s office.
I’m not sure if Planned Parenthood t-shirts at polling places violates the letter of the law, but in my opinion it violates the spirit of the law.
Planned Parenthood does lots of things, but it’s best known as a vocal advocate for abortion rights. Poll workers shouldn’t be wearing t-shirts that suggest they support pro-choice candidates.
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight pulls some factoids from Mark Blumenthal’s Exit Poll FAQ and tells you why exit polls — the go-to resource for pundits and journalists in post-election maelstroms where viewers and readers want a lot of information and fast — should not be trusted. Each reason is worth a read; you can do so here.
Could the actual votes cast in Georgia really be as close as AJC readers perceive? Could Obama and McCain be neck-and-neck? Or are all those big-city liberals skewing the numbers to make the state appear more blue?
Hmmm …
