I was the only voter at my precinct this morning. But then, that’s not surprising, since, outside Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, there are only some down-ticket statewide races to which to give thought.
The 4th, where Cynthia McKinney has pulled out all the stops in her attempt to beat back a challenge from Hank Johnson (who, if elected, will likely be the only Buddhist in Congress). McKinney, of course, thinks President Bush should be impeached, thereby displaying her typically judicious demeanor. Turnout in the run-off may exceed that in the primary three weeks ago, which is almost unheard of:
In McKinney’s district, only about 8,900 voters selected a Republican ballot in July, which means there are 278,384 registered voters eligible to participate in the runoff. Nearly 62,000 voted in the Democratic primary.
There’s your benchmark.
I’ll also be watching Connecticut, but this one hits too close to home.
Update: This story suggests that some precincts in what would be McKinney territory haven’t seen much traffic yet. Note also that McKinney has returned to her old staple--allegations of voting irregularities. This in a county run by African-American Democrats.
Will Hinton is live-blogging the day. Turnout seems to be up in precincts likely to be populated by Johnson (or anti-McKinney) voters. No doubt there’s some plot here too.
Update #2: Here is the official site for GA 4th election returns. As of 9:40 p.m., Johnson is ahead, but no votes have yet been counted in Dekalb County, which is the lion’s share of the district. But if you compare these partial returns to those from the July 18th primary, you’ve got to like Johnson’s chances. He’s doubled his vote total in Rockdale County (home of the fair Mrs. Knippenberg’s family), and McKinney will be hard-pressed to match her total from three weeks ago.
Update #3: Apparently they’re having difficulty uploading memory cards from voting machines in Dekalb County. More grist for CM’s conspiracy mill.
Update #4: The latest results, with 89% of the precincts reporting, give Johnson what I take to be an insurmountable lead. Turnout will exceed the 62,000 who voted three weeks ago. And Johnson appears to be winning comfortably in Dekalb County. I wonder if there’ll be a concession speech tonight.
Last update: Johnson has declared victory. Here’s some instant analysis, which I don’t instantly buy.
My only Georgia Democratic expert contact says that McKinney will probably lose, although it will be closer than the polls say. Lieberman, of course, has no chance to win the primary, but maybe an outside chance in November. It does seem to me that those who post here underestimate how unpopular the Iraq war or Bush’s conduct of it is, even among people who are moderate or conservative in other ways. Lieberman now represents a small minority in his own party and in America as a whole. The liberal on the domestic issues (without being nutty on the social issues) and hawkish on foreign policy position, one that I grew up, is just about dead. Ms. Clinton is in the process, of course, of upgrading her commander-in-chief bashing in preparation for her own primary races. (I’m not saying this is good, but as a social scientist I stick with the facts.)
’This in a county run by African-American Democrats.’
Time and time again, the folks who cry foul have no one else to blame but themselves, however they lash out at everyone else.
As I’ve said before, I have two absolutely representative-of-the base Republican friends, my brother and RR. Both are p-offed-as-hell at the Bush Administration in oh so many ways (including especially, but not solely, the management of post-invasion Iraq); the only reason they’ll vote Republican next time at the national level is because the Dem’s can’t produce a credible candidate. So, Peter’s right: Bush is incredibly unpopular, things won’t get better in that regard, and politics in 2008 will revert to type: the organization of hatreds (H. Adams) and choosing the lesser of two evils.
3: Mr. Seaton, your friends should try a little harder than they normally do and ask themselves WHY the Dems don’t have any good candidates. Something in the water, maybe?
Ms. McKinney’s impending defeat suggests that while "the scum also rises," sometimes the system works and it sinks instead.
Good riddance to this vicious, room-temperature-IQ lunatic.
Sondjata must be reeling.
McKinney’s lost by more, even much more, than expected. Lieberman all in all did better than expected and looks pretty formidable as an indy candidate in November now (although far from a sure thing). So a pretty good night overall.
scum also rises
Good riddance to this vicious, room-temperature-IQ lunatic
[Kathryn Jean Lopez 08/08 11:24 PM] From a Beltwayer: “I guess tonight’s lesson is that you can be politically and ideologically insane and be a Dem candidate (Lamont) but not be personally insane (McKinney)”
scum, lunatic, insane - Yet another reminder of how bloggers/blog-commenters of the Right always stay on the high road, always avoid ad hominem attacks, and always keep things civilized and dignified. Way to go, David Frisk and wm (and the folks at NRO)!
Trollboy, we on the Right have a tendency to tell the truth...occasionally the truth hurts. Sorry ’bout that.
And we are looking forward to a new independent Senator from Connecticut. I think he’ll be a lot more helpful without all the crackpot baggage of his party :)
You know Vox? You’re right. I’m voting Democrat from now on. Thank you.
Mr. Frisk: Your comment ("your friends should try a little harder.......") reminds me of a story told about James Joyce. The story goes that Joyce told a friend that he had given up his Catholic faith. The friend replied, "So you’ve become a Protestant?" Joyce retorted: "I said I’ve lost my faith, not my reason."
Having become disappointed in Bush (mainly over fiscal issues, secondarily over the handling of Iraq: Pace’, brother) in NO WAY tempts me to align with the feckless Dems.
I think its "I’ve lost my faith, not my self-respect."