The Netroots in Missouri has taken great issue with many of Sen Claire McCaskill's higher profile votes since we dumped money, time and effort into finally getting a Democratic Senator elected from Missouri.

Given her seeming intransience on fighting the FISA bill, is it any wonder some of us want to know more about her voting record on all the issues?

I'm using a broad database provided by the Washington Post but would love to see a site that has more detailed analysis.

Republicnas are a fairly disciplined lot and tend not to talk about each other unless they know something really is going on. So when so when a Republican state legislator dredges up rumors of Christopher Bond's resignation, it's time to take notice. According to the St. Joseph News-Press (courtesy of Fired Up! Missouri:

President Bush has come out in opposition to a plan that would raise the gas tax to help fund infrastructure repair.  Just a week after the bridge collapse in Minnesota, Bush is concerned that members of the Transportation Committee might not be able to put the public's interests above their own personal priorities, saying "I would strongly urge the Congress to examine how they set priorities."  Really?  Those pesky Democrats are the ones that are struggling with spending priorities?

Since there are so many, let's go through Republicans with questionable spending habits alphabetically by state:

I hang my head in shame. I am so f***ing furious with Claire McCaskill right now...At this moment in time, I can not denounce her with enough venom, and I vow I will never support another McCaskill candidacy for anything. That vote was an unforgivable sin. You see, I worked my ass off for her election. My number one gripe (and I had a laundry list) with Jim Talent was his habit of giving Bush carte blanche 97% of the time, especially where my civil liberties were concerned.

Last night, Claire lived down to the expectations I had for Talent when he held Harry Truman’s old Senate seat.

The great state of Missouri has been robbed— of eight hundred and fifty million dollars.

Who are the thieves? That’s up to you to decide.

By my way of thinking, the Republican Party and the Religious Right should divide the guilt.

The chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dick Wadhams, says Republicans themselves brought on the whipping the GOP suffered in last fall's election.

Wadhams says Republicans didn't deserve to win in 2006. He says they forfeited their claim to fiscal responsibility, mishandled the ethical lapses of some members of Congress, and poorly handled the aftermath of the Iraq war

Wadhams is a former campaign director for racist Senator Conrad Burns, the Republican who lost to Jon Tester and  racist former Senator George Macaca Allen who lost to Senator Jim Webb.

Dick Wadhams now work as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

source: http://cbs4denver.com/...

The jury is still out on whether this is true or just a wild rumor, but Wonkette is reporting that Republican Kti Bond may soon leave the Senate.

And while Americans are justly primarily thankful to the Democratic party candidates who won, it remains also true:

Having gone on at considerable length about the Republican Party War on America, we now reach the momentary denouement: The Republicans have lost.  They lost the House.  They lost the Senate. With the Senate, they lost the ability to install far-right judges.  With Congress, they lost the ability to field ultraright legislation.  In the next two years, there will be no more Patriot Acts.  There will be no more Military Commission Acts.  There will be no more Real ID acts.

I turn to three Senate elections:

Montana:
Tester (D)     198,302 49%
Burns R        195,455 48%
Jones (L)       10,324  3%

Mr. Jones, who gained some publicity a few years ago through contracting argyrosis and turning himself blue, has now done one better: He turned his state blue.  MORE BEYOND THE FOLD

This is a totally unscientific report but gives some clues as to what goes on in the mind of voters and how some ads backfire.

It's not terribly insightful but I wanted to share with the 10-20 people who occasional read my occasional diaries.

In the interest of fairness I think it's incumbent on us all to recognize the debt of gratitude we all owe Rush Limbaugh for his efforts on behalf of the Democratic Party in the recent Elections. Without the Missouri Senate seat we wouldn't have gotten a majority in that chamber, and as close as it was I don't think we would have gotten that seat without Limbaugh's mockery of Michael J. Fox.

With that debt weighing heavily upon me this morning I dedicated literally minutes to developing a fitting expression of our gratitude, and I invite one and all to join my efforts. First, we have a standard greeting card with an appropriately patriotic motif...

Thanks George!

We couldn't have done it without you.

There's plenty of evidence to suggest that President Bush may have been the deciding factor that killed the GOP's momentum in some key Senate races over the last week. One Republican consultant is convinced that Bush's last-minute visit to Missouri on behalf of ousted GOP Sen. Jim Talent did the incumbent in. According to the network exit polls, Democrat Claire McCaskill crushed Talent among those late-breaking voters who decided in the final three days (a full 11 percent of the electorate). Bush also made a last-minute trip to Montana, where anecdotal evidence indicates the president's rally for Republican Conrad Burns stopped the incumbent's momentum in Billings.

Race tracker wiki: MO-Sen MT-Sen

One of the things about this election that I was interested in were the raw number of votes towards Republican candidates and Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives. In some ways it should show how the political landscape looks on a small scale.

Since I currently live in MO (St Louis country) I'm most interested in MO. Looking at the vote numbers, one thing to say is WOW - McCaskill really kicked booty. In MO, as reported currently, of 2,050,305 votes, Ds got 47.05% while Rs got 50.29% (2.65% other), a margin of 3.24% for Republicans. McCaskill won with 49.44% of the vote compared to Talent's 47.44% ... a 2% margin of victory. That's a swing of over 5%... very nice!

More details below ...

In a series of diaries, I analyzed all the key Senate polls, using graphs and loess.  ON Monday, I made predictions.  I was off on the margin of victory in some races, but I got every winner.  

Below the fold is a recap, with the results added

Missouri's Senator-elect Claire McCaskill has credited her narrow victory, which helped enable the Democratic party to take control of the U.S. Senate, to Rush Limbaugh's now-infamous attack on Michael J. Fox for exhibiting side effects of his Parkinson's disease.

How humiliating for Rush Limbaugh to have handed political control of the country to his sworn enemies! However, if we liberals truly are on the side of compassion, we must reach out to everyone in their hour of need - even, yes, America's #1 conservative radio talk-show host.

Join me on the flip to view a sympathy card you can print, sign and send to Rush Limbaugh.

Good lord, did Bush really just say that on national TV?  He never fails to amaze me.  

Also amazing is that I am watching Bush speak and enjoying it.  Background: election night '04 I had decided to never voluntarily listen to Bush's voice again.  I mostly kept this vow, at least for a full sentence (sometimes by covering my ears and humming), until watching and enjoying this press conference right now.  He's such a diminished presence now that he's like a fun little punching bag, a pathetic figure.

The strange combination of his usual schtick (malapropisms, bluster and bravado), with bizarre statements, odd candour, and even occasional pseudo-sympathetic moments ("I've been around politics a long time, I don't hold grudges" uhhhh, we'll see) it's a beautiful thing to watch.  This election has cured me!  

And thanks to my eight hours of work on GOTV here in Missouri yesterday (preceded by another twenty or so over the last few weeks) in a tight McCaskill victory, I am so enjoying savouring this one.

No, really.  It is a beautiful day.  It is sunny, and 61 degrees at 11 a.m., and the leaves are just slightly past their peak of colour (the time I like them best, as they are rich reds turning to browns).  
I drove through town this morning while running an errand, and admired the political signs still up, and smiled, yet again, at a brand new gorgeous day.

I had predicted the KS-02 upset for some time, and I think it is the biggest upset in the House.  The Lawrence, Kansas paper has a headline "Red State Looks Blue".  The GOP AG, something of a "Santorum" figure, also lost.

This day started 22 hours ago.  The clothes I'm wearing are actually pretty disgusting and probably need to be burned.  I just got home and I am tired.  But I am happier than I've been in years.  And I am so proud of my friend Claire McCaskill.