Republicans Take The House

11.03.10 -- 2:59AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Looking Like It Could Be 53

As of now the Democrats have 51 Senate seats in the win column. Alaska seems like a battle between two Republicans, with Lisa Murkowski the apparent winner, though with write-ins there's no telling. That leaves Washington state and Colorado. At the moment, Patty Murray is about 14,000 votes ahead and Michael Bennet is about 8,000 votes behind. But there's more to the story.

In both states the pattern of what votes still remain to be counted appears to favor the Democrat. It seems most clear in Colorado. There Boulder and Denver counties are just a bit more than half reported. And that's where the blue votes come from. So it really looks like the math favors him. Indeed, if that's really true, it seems hard to figure how Buck can hold on since the margin is so close right now.

I have less of a sense of the political geography of Washington state other than that King's County (Seattle) is where the Dems get the lion's share of their vote. But from what I'm hearing the math looks favorable to Murray there too.

If those both come into the Democratic column, it would mean that the Dems won each of the seats they were predicted to win. Basically, West Virginia, California and Washington, along with two they weren't -- Nevada and Colorado.

What's got to be tantalizing for Dems is that they came pretty close in two other states -- Pennsylvania and Illinois -- but came up just short.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 2:17AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Carly's Non-Concession Speech

I know Carly Fiorina is new to politics. But I'm not sure anyone explained for her how a concession speech is supposed to work. Every news organization has called it for Boxer. But Fiorina just came out and said the race was neck and neck.

That does not appear to be the case. The current returns have Boxer leading by about 5 points.

Boxer is also giving her speech now and seems to be sort of surprised that Fiorina hasn't conceded.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 2:09AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)

Jerry's Acceptance Speech

Jerry Brown was sort of my formative political experience or perhaps my first. He was in office when I was in elementary school in California. He just gave his acceptance speech. I didn't see it but I heard it. It was classic Jerry Brown. Seemed like something I could have heard him say 30+ years ago. Not the kind of speech you'd ever expect to hear from almost any politician in the country. He was a bit punchy, extemporaneous. Ranging in various ways from one topic to another. Here's the one quote I wrote down: I still have that "missionary zeal to transform the world." Who else would say that? I don't think I heard any of his speeches during the campaign. But I get the sense he let a bit of Gov. Moonbeam out post-victory. In his post-gubernatorial career he's frequently driven me nuts. But I kind of love the guy.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:58AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Not Even Trying to Spin

One key moment from the night. Dems at DNC headquarters and their 'party' location, just packed it up and left before the spinning proper was supposed to start.

Our reporter Brian Beutler let us know late in the evening. And that's it. There's not going to be any spinning. They're just calling it a night. Spoke louder than whatever words they might have tried.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:52AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)

Reid's Totally Improbable Win

Our write-up of Harry Reid's almost unbelievable comeback win in Nevada.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:48AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

You Gotta See This

I'm not sure how to describe this. But it's Carl Paladino's non-concession concession speech in which he first invites Gov-Elect Andrew Cuomo to grab his bat handle or be assaulted with it. Yeah, I don't know what else to say. Watch it.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:40AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (59)

Palin A Loser

It makes sense to be pretty careful in judging how things will affect Sarah Palin. But there's a decent argument that this is not a great night for her. Think about if Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell hadn't won their primaries. There's a decent chance Dems would have lost the Senate tonight. That's a pretty big deal. She also made a late endorsement of John Raese in West Virginia. He got crushed. And perhaps most importantly, she went to war in a big way with her state's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski. She got her beat in the Republican primary. But now it's looking like Murkowski's quite likely to win as a write-in, which is usually pretty much impossible to pull off.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think Sarah Palin will be going anywhere soon. The problem for the GOP is that the people who love her -- and there are a lot of them in the GOP -- really love her. And this won't matter a bit to them. But this result is going to get a lot of talk in GOP circles. Because there's a plausible argument that she lost them the Senate.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:28AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Colorado Back in Play

I'm still trying to nail this down. But it looks like the number of votes remaining outstanding in Colorado favor Bennet. That's with Buck 4k ahead as of this moment.

Take this all as very tentative. It seems like there's a decent amount of confusion on the ground. But this sounds like it's still anyone's game.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:25AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)

First Signs Out of Alaska

First signs show Murkowski in the lead.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:16AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)

Says It All

President Obama speaking tonight with Speaker-Elect John Boehner (R).

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:11AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Stewart's Take

Jon Stewart's take from tonight: better to support prostitutes than Social Security.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:05AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)

WTF (Colorado Edition)

Okay, that rocket ahead by Ken Buck in Colorado? Apparently it was the result of a typo in Boulder County. Literally. Still waiting to get results after correction.

Late Update: Getting conflicting word about what the current vote count is in Colorado post-typo-fix. Whoever's ahead it now seems like just a few thousand votes.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 1:02AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)

Blow Out in the House

Looking like 65 or so seats for the GOP in the House. Possibly a few more.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:50AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Are You in a Trance?

Classic encounter between Chris Matthews and Michele Bachmann tonight. Watch it.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:48AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)

Back to Reality

Don't know what the county by county is. But Ken Buck just rocketed ahead by like 30k votes in Colorado.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:44AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)

Reid's Stunning Comeback

The Dems have a small moral victory with the Reid win in Nevada, in the context of a pretty rough night. But, man, you've got to step back and just recognize what an amazing victory this was for Harry Reid. I mean, the economy is close to the worst in the nation. Reid was amazingly unpopular. There was a point about a year ago when I figured he'd probably pull a Dodd and just pack it in. And the polls at the end showed Angle opening a small but clear lead. And really, it's not even close. There was enough shoe leather in this win for like a hundred shoes. I don't know how else to put it.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:36AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)

Looks Like Reid's Got It

I'm not willing to say it's done. But MSNBC and Fox are now calling it for Harry Reid.

And AP too.

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:28AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (11)

Oh That's A Good Sign

Darrell Issa (R), chief investigator under new leadership in House, tells reporters: "My responsibility is very broad, we own everything."

--Josh Marshall

11.03.10 -- 12:21AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)

Colorado Tightens A Lot

Would be sort of rough for Dems to see Colorado now go the way of Illinois and Pennsylvania. But it's now close to dead even.

--Josh Marshall