What a night

Macaca did him in...

RICHMOND, Virginia: Republican Sen. George Allen's political career hung by a thread on Tuesday, as Democrat Jim Webb claimed victory in a race whose outcome could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate.

"The votes are in and we won," Webb said, though there were still votes to count. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Webb had 1,170,564 votes, or 49.6 percent, to Allen's 1,162,717, or 49.3 percent.

The Virginia race is pivotal because Democrats, who already wrestled control of the House of Representatives from Republicans, need to snatch two more Republican Senate seats — Virginia and Montana — to control the Senate.

There are no automatic recounts in Virginia, but state law allows a candidate who finishes a half-percentage point or less behind to request a recount paid for by state and local governments.

a margin greater than that but less than 1 percentage point, the trailing candidate can also seek a recount, but would have to pay the costs if the results are unchanged.

A final count, including all absentee ballots, was expected later Wednesday; no exact numbers on outstanding absentee ballots were immediately available.

A former governor once popular for abolishing parole, Allen had once been expected to cruise to a second term this year as a warmup for a presumed 2008 presidential run.


I did vote for Allen, I'm not a Republican or even particularly conservative, but I tend to vote for people that look after my own interests. I vote conservatively on matters of foreign policy and strategic policy, more liberal on issues of social justice. Allen didn't hit all the high points with me, but I thought his opponent was truly vile. Oh well, I hope the recount goes well for George. His campaign was sad and inept... he should have taken the high road and not engaged in political fisticuffs with Webb for the past three months. Both candidates were capable of operating at that level, and i think the stupid "Macaca" incident really did for George. Temper temper!

For Congress, it was a no-brainer. Tom Davis and I may differ on a lot of issues, but he's been a chamipon of the Virginia Railway Express commuter line, he consistently engages of taxation, transportation and education issues, so I didn't even think twice.

I was truly appalled at some of the items up for referendum... Defining Marriage? Forget it! I couldn't vote for that. This earned me some loud hoots at home from that devout doyen of religious values, Drey..

Frankly, I couldn't make out the language in half of the referendums, and I read them carefully. The ONE referendum that did stick out was the "lowered taxation on new construction" clause. Forget it! We're experiencing a rash of arson in Fairfax County, where the owners sell the charred rubble to new owners who proceed to build MacMansions on the ashes and not get taxed for it. No thanks!

In Virginia, as in the rest of the country, George Bush and Saddam Hussein proved to be a hard couple to have on your coat tails this election. That's politics... now we have Nancy Pelosi in charge of Congress! Wow, America, don't you feel safe?