Campaign

After the humbling trouncing the GOP suffered in the November elections, many in the party were set to dig in for a long fight before seeing any signs of resurgence. Now we have a bit of hope that the climb, while steep, is not impossible.

Republican Saxby Chambliss has delivered a big win — nearly 20 points — in the Senate runoff in Georgia. Barack Obama aired ads for Democrat Jim Martin, and all the big guns in the Democratic Party campaigned for Martin. Likewise, Chambliss brought in a few big names of his own, including Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The GOP win cost the Democrats the filibuster-proof Senate they craved, and may quell the pompous posturing of an assumed mandate. The supermajority has been denied, and the GOP lives to fight another day. Read more...

In Georgia, 2008 is a lot like 1992.

Back then, a young Democratic nominee promising hope and change was the top of the ticket and Southern states had become competitive for the first presidential cycle in years. This caused problems for Republicans down-ballot, with more voters coming to the polls and voting Democrat than expected. And as the Democrats retook the White House, the Senate race in Georgia was forced into a runoff between incumbent Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler and Republican challenger Paul Coverdell. Read more...

Harry Reid is in the catbird seat. Alaska has fallen, the push for Minnesota gathers steam, and Democrats should make an all-out effort for Georgia.

The Democrats already have the 60 votes to prevent filibusters in the next Congress, in practice, but let’s go for the gold. Applause to Al Franken for coming to Washington to work the system and keep the pressure on. Let’s go for 60 Democratic senators now and 64 in 2010.

Make no mistake, in governing I support the most bipartisanship, but in electing senators it’s time to push hard, keep the pressure on, move aggressively and go for the whole thing. These filibusters have done great damage to America and our economy and destroyed the capacity of the Senate to act. It is time to destroy the filibuster tactic by electing every Democrat. Bipartisanship should be pursued from maximum strength. Read more...

The GOP freak-out is well under way, with leading voices in the party falling into the two predictable camps: the stick-with-it conservatives and the embrace-the-center crowd.

The first group is being coined "traditionalists" today by David Brooks in his column in The New York Times, and the more tolerant group of moderates are being termed "reformers." One crowd wants Sarah Palin to lead the charge, while the other hopes she never graces the Lower 48 again. You can guess who is who. Read more...

The Hill's A.B. Stoddard answers your questions about the future of Republicans in Congress working with an Obama administration, as well as the Republican brand.

We lost.

Get over it.

And start rebuilding.

This was not going to be a Republican year. Everybody knew that.

I thought McCain had a chance, but I was wrong. Big time.

He ran as a Republican, when he should have run as a conservative independent. Read more...

There are probably a lot of reasons why Elizabeth Dole (R) lost her North Carolina Senate seat. Overall bad economy. A good campaign in the state by Barack Obama. High number of African-American voters. Kay Hagan’s effectiveness at painting Dole as having lost touch with her constituents.

But I choose to believe that, to some degree at least, North Carolina voters tossed Dole because of the despicable “Godless” smear ad that she ran against Hagan. The ad was just a horrible, mean-spirited attempt to make the voters think that the “godless” Hagan was secretly conspiring with atheists in Boston. Dole even tried to make viewers of the ad think that Hagan was secretly recorded saying, “There is no God.” Read more...

If you look at Virginia and Kentucky, it looks like a narrow McCain victory. If you look at Florida and Indiana, it looks like a big Obama win. All four states have less than a quarter of the vote in, so we can't jump to conclusions.

In Virginia, with 19 percent of the vote in, McCain is winning by 13 percent. That's about 10 points better than it should be for McCain. In Kentucky, with 23 percent in, McCain is winning by 15. That's about six points better than it should be for McCain. Read more...

Vote tomorrow! Please, please, please, please vote tomorrow — even if you are going to be difficult and vote for Ralph Nader or even John McCain.

It's pathetic that in 2004, only 56.7 percent of eligible Americans voted (young people like myself are the most guilty cohort). It is so important! If you manage not to vote this time, I will lose all respect for you.

In our system, we all get to participate — not to a high degree, unless you have millions, but we all get to. And that is something. Your interests will never be accounted for unless you take back control. The only way to accomplish this is to vote. Why would they care about if you have a job, unless you were part of the reason they have their jobs? That's what is going on here. Read more...

Walking through the aisles of the grocery store this weekend, I heard one woman proclaim to another, "If Wednesday were here yesterday, it wouldn't be soon enough." I'm not sure what party she supported, but it doesn't matter. Whether you think you're going to win or fear you're going to lose, the hours before the victors are declared are sure to be filled with the mixture of hope, dread, nerves and nausea that are symptoms of Pre-election Stress Disorder (PESD).

Having been through some close elections, I thought I'd share a few of the ways I've managed to maintain whatever crumbs of sanity remain after months of campaigning. Even if you're not involved with the day-to-day operations of a campaign, the intense 24-hour media focus makes many people feel the great pressure of election night. Below are five ways to keep the Election Day blues from ruining what will be a good night for at least half of you out there. Read more...