(From the diaries. And give a huge shoutout to sidinny and his whole team for this incredible, incredible series. SusanG)
Tonight's diary is the last one in this series (for 2006, anyway). On behalf of everyone involved I'd like to thank Markos for this incredible platform, our amazing candidates to whom we've entrusted our country, and all of our friends and colleagues on this site.
With a cutoff of Midnight last night this will be an abbreviated compilation, however, I have asked our many fine volunteers to share a final thought with the community. I hope you'll do them the honor of taking a look.
- sid .
This Roundup Diary covers the period from 1:00 PM to Midnight EST Friday, 11/10.
Today's Menu Includes:
26 Diaries Overall
- 9 On House races
- 9 On Senate races
- 4 On Various election races
- Encompassing Governor, Secretary of State, Local, and more
- 4 General election-related diaries
Exactly 6,827 diaries served!!!
Election Race Roundup (9/2 - 66 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 8/22-9/1).
Election Race Roundup (9/12 - EIGHT WEEKS TO GO!) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 9/2-9/11).
Election Race Roundup (9/22 - 46 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 9/12-9/21).
Election Race Roundup (10/2 - 36 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 9/22-10/1).
Election Race Roundup (10/12 - 26 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 10/2-10/11).
Election Race Roundup (10/22 - 16 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 10/12-10/21).
Election Race Roundup (11/1 - 6 Days to Daylight) (with links to 10 diaries, covering 10/22-10/31).
Election Race Roundup (11/2 - 5 Days to Daylight)
Election Race Roundup (11/3 - 4 Days to Daylight)
Election Race Roundup (11/4 - 3 Days to Daylight)
Election Race Roundup (11/5 - 2 Days to Daylight)
Election Race Roundup (11/6 - 1 Day to Daylight)
Election Race Roundup (11/7 - A New Day Dawns...)
Election Race Roundup (11/8 - The First 100 Hours; Day 1)
Election Race Roundup (11/9 - The First 100 Hours; Day 2)
Election Race Roundup (11/10 - The First 100 Hours; Day 3)
(1:00 PM to Midnight, Friday, 11/10): (26 diaries)
House (9)
(CA-45) (CA-45) My vote for Roth hasn't been counted yet. by soyinkafan - Diarist has news that 75,000 votes remain to be counted in CA-45.
(CA-49) We Did Not Win in CA-49 - But We Are Winners by JeeniCriscenzo - Jeeni Criscenzo (D) ran in a fully red district, without much hope, may have lost to Darrell Issa (R) (all the votes are not counted yet), but she made a difference and gave people a choice.
(FL-13) New Vote, Not Just Recount, Needed for Florida's 13th C.D. by Fisch Fry - There are some serious questions about how the voting went in Katherine Harris's old district.
(NY-19) NY-19: You're Fired, Sue Kelly. Accept the Vote! by NYBri - Diarist has a press conference from residents of NY-19.
(OH-15) Pryce vs. Kilroy: An analysis of the data by KTinOhio - Diarist has a run down on OH-15.
(PA-08) PA-08: Election Night memories By PsiFighter37 - Diarist cover Election night in PA-08.
(TX-23) The Last Battle by Nonpartisan - Ciro Rodriguez (D) will face Henry Bonilla (D) in a run-off in Texas 23rd; he needs our help to keep Bonilla out of office!
(WA-05) WA-05 How do we get Peter Goldmark's ideas in there? by Freebee - Diarist looks at the losing candidate's great ideas on the table in Congress.
(WI-08) Why WI-08 -- and you -- can say "Whew! a Close Call for Congress!" by Cream City - Diarist has the Madison Cap Times article on WI-08.
Senate (9)
(CT-Sen) Joseph I. Lieberman Switches Party Affiliation, Officially by William Jacques - It's official, CFI Lieberman is still a Democrat.
(CT-Sen) Lieberman to Chair Homeland Security by balconesfault - Quite possibly the best place for him.
(MT, VA-Sen) Tester & Webb say Thanks by Positronicus - "Dear Friend" letters from Jon Tester and Jim Webb, who know who buttered their bread.
(RI-Sen) Give Chafee Some Credit by Deeg - While I am glad Democrats are in control of the Senate, I miss this guy.
(TN-Sen) TN-Sen: The REAL Reason Harold Ford Lost by The Crusader - Analysis of how Ford abandoned his left flank, and lost the election.
(TN-Sen) TN-Sen: The real REAL Reason Harold Ford Lost by Yellow Dog Dem Woman - Diarist has the numbers from Tennessee Senate race.
(TN-Sen) TN-Sen: What happened in 2006, in terms of 2008 by Sidof79 - Breakdown of the numbers and the strategy, how to turn it around next cycle.
(TN-Sen) Why Ford Really Really Lost by smijer - Diarist from Tennessee has an opinion on why Harold Ford's lost.
(VA-Sen) Taking out the Macaca Trash by KEVIN SCHMIDT STERLING VA - A trashy campaign gets trashed.
Various (4)
(FL-Var) Dems Lost in FL Where Counting left out 1 in 8 voters by Maaarrkk - There seems to be some more questions about lost votes and whether Democrats would have won.
(ID-Var) Blue Boise by mcjoan - Diarist has the good news from Boise Idaho.
(MN-Var) Warm-fuzzy Election-day stories by chriscol - Diarist was an election judge in Minnesota along with her husband & has a few stories.
(NV-Var) Nevada Went Blue After All by RandyMI - Even though the "top-line" offices went Republican, Democrats made major gains.
General (4)
House Numbers by state by Adam T - How sweet it is.
How well did the pundits' predictions hold up? by sarahnity - Detailed breakdown (with graphics) on how well the "experts" did.
So how did the Fighting Dems do? (UPDATED) by exiled texan - Pretty darn well.
Speaking of Redistricting... by azpoljunkie - Diarist starts the conversation about redistricting.
Our turn - The ERR (or ERDR, if you prefer) crew has promoted everyone else's work, now it's their turn...
- Alma
When I first saw sidinny's diary, I knew it was something special. At that time there were several major medical problems going on in my family. (Some are still going, so I'll take all the good vibes you can spare.) I also had a major project going on at soapbox4truth.org. I agonized for a while on what to do, but knew I had to do something to help. So I got a hold of sidinny.
That was the start of many beautiful new friendships. All of my co-workers are wonderful people, and are really my friends now. Seeing a diary by Immigrant Punk or cmanaster could make my day. Reading about Danny Stover, or NYBri brought me hope. These were just a few examples. I could go on and on. There was such a feeling of fulfillment working on this, that you really have to experience to appreciate.
I have some people that I want to thank. My soapbox family for being so supportive and understanding. Instead of being resentful that I had left them in the lurch, they encouraged me everyday with what a wonderful and important job this crew was doing. My real family for understanding how important this was for me, and in some small way, I hope, our country. The ERDR crew, for being the most dedicated bunch of people I have ever met, the diarists for doing such a wonderful job, the commenters for letting us know that we were making a difference, and the candidates for running and bringing us hope.
- Nightprowlkitty
On August 22 I read a diary that changed me. A couple of days later I volunteered to help sidinny rescue all diaries done at Daily Kos on the upcoming 2006 elections. I began as a miner, graduated to scheduling (at which I was pretty awful) and then as a compiler, editing and proofing a 12-hour block of diaries for each day. Eventually, things got very busy at work and I was unable to commit to a regular shift, so I became a pinch-hitter. One thing did not change, though, and that was my reading this diary every day and marveling at the perseverance of the diarists and my fellow team members -- not one day was missed, and considering the hours of work required to put this project together, that will always be amazing to me.
The most important thing I learned is that you don't have to know everything to do something. I began working on this project thinking grand thoughts about how we should do this, do that, and ended up realizing the work was right in front of me to do and there was no need to think about it at all! I now feel confident I can continue to pursue projects in this way, through dedicated teamwork, without having some grand scheme in my mind; it's given me confidence to continue this kind of political blogging work.
I've said it before and will again -- thank you to sidinny for this great idea -- I've seen you grow and achieve some fine leadership skills through this project and that is a wonderful thing. Alma and randallt have been solid as a rock and utterly reliable, qualities I value very highly, as well as their great and constant kindness. SueJazz has done an amazing job of scheduling, which sounds easy but is definitely not! And the miners have been tops; combing through each day's diaries with real enthusiasm and diligence. I would work with any one of you again and am honored I had the chance to be a part of this project.
- ukben
Throughout my life, politics has held some special interest, but I've always been a bit lazy and disaffected. Seeing the call for ERR help, I volunteered, ignorant of the journey I had embarked on. In reality, {we are a reality-based community} ERR vastly taught me more than I contributed. To my shame, I was arrogant about politics, and clueless about Dkos, the election, and the candidates. Everything changes when you look at something under a microscope, and mining diaries is a bit like that for the election as a whole. I am now more humble and less willful about my political convictions, and getting so close all the things where I had the wrong end of the stick has opened my eyes more fully to my own naiveté.
Being a miner means that a huge chunk of your being for the last month or so is now gone--this task no longer remains. I'm sure I'll find another project to fill my time, but there was such purpose with this, such a sense of the greater good. I'm sure I overstate my role, here, as a lowly miner scurrying away, but I can't help the pride I feel in a job well done. We've made a record for the ages, as Steve likes to think of it, and hopefully played some small part in getting our current crop of Dems into office.
More important than the election, or what I learned, or even the victory is the group of ERRs. We bonded, laughed, supported one another, and all seem to want to keep this sort of thing up. So a hearty thank you to the group of miners (we did the hard work of reading all the diaries), the compilers (who had to correct all of the terrible mistakes, I surely made), Sue the scheduler (I can't imagine how complicated that got at times), and most importantly to Steve, for getting this whole thing off the ground, providing great counsel as to how to make it effective, and keeping us focused on the task at hand.
- demkat620
I am really grateful to have had this opportunity to be involved in such an amazing effort. I was overwhelmed by the support and passion I saw for candidates and causes around the country. I've found some new favorite diarists and look forward to reading more from them in the future. I will miss this with my morning coffee.
And I want to give a thank you to everybody who worked on ERDR, you guys are the best!
- eeff
When I first noticed Sid's Diary & request I wanted to volunteer. But I knew I was making a trip to NC the first week in Sept. I knew I would be gone almost two weeks. So I waited to see if I could join when I returned. What interested me is this was like the nightly Diary Rescue project & how it had me reading more diaries on Dkos.
I wanted to help also because I saw it as a way of helping the election itself in a small way. I'm out of work at this time & it gave me something to do. It also was very informative. I found myself looking for these diaries even when it wasn't my shift. There were diarists that started becoming must-read, such as Psifighter, aimeeinkc, georgeeve, & so many others it seems wrong to pick just three.
Then you would get a treat and an actual candidate would do a diary on your shift. That ended up costing me money several times. I just couldn't let their diary and time go unrewarded.
Then the last three weeks became a blur. I'm in South Florida and I was helping the Ron Klein campaign as much as I could also. The last week I was there from 8:30ish till 6:30ish daily. So between Sid's project & the Klein campaign I felt very involved in this election.
Now I'm looking forward till the 2008 elections.
I'm very happy to have been involved with this project & the gang that pulled it off every day.
Thank You for letting me be a part of it.
- suejazz
This has been a great experience for me. Not only did I get to work on the campaign of a truly great guy, Jerry McNerney, but I got to hang out on this site with some wonderful, committed people who were determined to spread the progressive gospel far and wide. Daily Kos and the netroots have not received the credit they deserve for the Dems win on Tuesday, but we know that whether we were mining or compiling or donating or doing GOTV we made a big difference in many races. Thanks to all my compatriots on this project, but especially to sidinny for his vision and his determination to make his vision a reality.
- drchelo
I was very new to DailyKos, and new to blogging when I volunteered for Election Diary Mining, and was a bit intimidated - the talent of the writers there, their intensity and intelligence went beyond any Internet group I had encountered before. But, Randall's and Alma's patience in teaching me helped me get over that insecurity.
And then there were the diaries! I did not know about most of the candidates they were writing about, but as I read the individual diaries, and began following the day-to-day activities of the different campaigns, I became interested, involved, and educated. Before I knew it, I was giving money to the campaigns I read about, and I started really caring about states and districts that are across the country from me.
It was a privilege to do this. It was a pleasure to sit down every afternoon to "work" my shift, I am honored that I had the opportunity to do this, and I loved every minute of it.
I can hardly wait for the next round! Thanks to all of you - sidinny, TruthOfAngels, anais, ukben, Brad, cdale, edriee, eeff, kidoakland, LandOfEnchantment, mwkrc, Nightprowlkitty, randallt, sevah, suejazz, turbonerd, Alma - thank you.
- anais
I think the roundup diaries were a wonderful idea, and I imagine they were widely used as a resource at all media levels. I can't believe that I, a political novice, was allowed to help with something so important. I loved every minute of the mining (and the hours of reading it sometimes led to) and treasure the acquaintances I have made. I would do it again in a minute.
- edgery
I can get maudlin at endings so I'll be brief. I read DKos differently now. I look for friends' names, don't skip as many diaries but read with a more critical eye, and marvel at the hard work done by Kossacks across this country in making our democracy better. I'm grateful to sidinny and kos for giving me a chance to be part of something larger than myself.
- bowazon
It has been amazing to be involved in the election diary rescue, even if I only did a few shifts. Through dailykos I followed important races all over the country (and gave money to some of them) and it gave me something to read while I was impatiently/anxiously waiting for Election Day. :) Thanks to everyone for letting me get involved; it's nice to feel that I played a little part in dailykos and the incredible victories on Tuesday.
Onward to 2008!!!!
- randallt
when I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse
out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
the child is grown, the dream is gone.....
In the seventh grade I found myself excited about the Goldwater campaign. I went to rallies, distributed bumper stickers and became as involved as a twelve year old could. I had no idea what Barry stood for and didn't really care. I was just intoxicated with the juice that was politics.
I carried that passion into high school and college and worked behind the scenes as a campaign manager and advisor. Luckily by then I had also developed a sense of justice and had adjusted my worldview to become a Democrat.
Then I dropped out for reasons beyond my understanding and distanced myself from politics for over twenty years. I had never even voted! That changed 14 years ago when a new friend was listening to me grousing about the government and how voting doesn't really matter. He looked me in the eyes and said, "Well then Shut t*f*u about politics. If you can't bother to vote, then don't complain!" Ouch.
So slowly but surely I came back to the real world, became active again and tried to make a difference. And I started voting! The going was slow but I tried. I tried to stop the war before it started, I started blogging, I tried to organize locally and I found DK.
Then I found sidinny and Kitty and Alma and Susan and the rest of the early crew and I volunteered. To be honest, I worried they wouldn't accept me, feeling like they were a cadre of elite Kossacks or something. Ha! But they did, and I started mining and when the project was in danger, I was accepted as a compiler. This experience has not just restored my faith in the political process but it has given me more than a glimpse of hope out of the corner of my eye. It has re-awakend the child's dream. I can put my finger on it now, and it feels fantastic!
And as a delightful bonus, I have new friends that I get the feeling might be a part of my life for a very long time. Thanks folks. Peace.
For the past three days I've been trying to think of a fitting final comment for this series. Words generally come easily for me; not this time. For four years I wrote for a local newspaper; for 11 years I was an advisor to a college paper, and I can't ever remember a "deadline" quite like this one.
There's so much I'd like to say and brevity is not one of my strengths. I've pretty much decided to save the "deep thought" for my own retrospective diary on this series, though it would be totally self-indulgent, and knowing myself I'll likely never get to it.
This final roundup carries an emotion that I wouldn't expect most folks to understand. It has gone so far beyond being a "project" for those of us involved. What I've found particularly gratifying is that most or all of my friends who have contributed to this effort seem to have walked the same path I did in the first few days when I was making the insane attempt to do this by myself.
Sparing the details, it's like the process of sifting, scanning, summarizing and sorting so much fine work made us all feel... connected. Connected to our political process, to our candidates, to our fellow Kossacks, even to our media... connected to each other.
Most importantly, I think, is that as a people we have re-connected to our Democracy. In the early weeks a commenter took some gentle prodding and put up a diary for a hopelessly outmatched candidate. The candidate himself was amazed and thankful for the donations that that one diary generated for his campaign. That motivated me to change my sig line to its current "Make a difference today, who better than you?"
In many of the comments you read above, you'll see folks who had little or no previous experience in politics (as was the case for me). Some were actually thankful for being "allowed" to participate. With due respect, that is backward. No one brick in a building is more or less important than the other. All are necessary and have their part in a strong structure. We needed you, and you came through.
One of our regular commenters expressed dismay at "life getting in the way" of that person's political efforts. Certainly, we can always feel like we could have done more. What is important, I think, is that most of us did more in this election than we have ever done before. If we keep that mindset and continue to build on our efforts, we can (and will) continue to do amazing things. To change our country, and the world.
I'll make a confession - had SusanG's group not rescued our first diary, and Markos not front-paged us a few days later, I'm not sure this would have lasted the week. It was too labor-intensive to stand the heartbreak of watching it scroll into oblivion.
But Markos gave the diary a megaphone. Through it, about two-dozen people contributed over the life of the project (I want to name them all, but I'm deathly afraid of missing someone). Those folks worked hard to give hundreds of candidates and thousands of diaries a higher platform. I do think we made a difference. And I'd venture to say that we will continue to do so.
I've said it many times, but this could not have gone this far without the great folks above. I can't express enough my appreciation to them. And a special thanks to my wife for her unending support and allowing me to monopolize the computer for the past few months, and to my young twins, who were my selfish motiviation for getting off my keester and finally getting involved.
So much for brevity.
I'm the last one out, guess I'll have to shut off the lights...
... until '08.
Peace all,
- Steve (aka sidinny)