Election Day 2008

Democratic Opponents including Vice President Dick Cheney co-operated fully today as Roland Burris, D-Ill., was sworn into the Senate Members Club. The photo here is a mock ceremony where Cheney posed with the new Senator who was accompanied by his wife Berlean. The swearing in was a quiet affair but he did get a round of applause from fellow Senators as he entered the chamber on January 15, 2009 more than a week after the other Senators (but one) were sworn in together. CLICK HERE for the complete story from CBS news.

IT'S OFFICIAL- kinda
Minneapolis (01-05-09)- The State Election Board certified that out of 2.9 million votes cast in Minnesota, 225 more went to Democrat Al Franken than to Republican Incumbent Norm Coleman. State law allows seven days for the challenger to file a court challenge, Coleman's lawyer says it will be done tomorrow (Tuesday,1-6-09). Franken may or may not be seated by the Senate before the court reviews the case. CLICK HERE for the story.

Minnesota's Missing a Senator?
by Jerry Pippin

(Minneapolis- Midnight-12-28-08) The Canvassing Board does not appear ready to declare a winner before Congress meets again on January 6, 2009. Republican Norm Coleman can be there for the Lame Duck session but come January 20th, he is likely to be in the Twilight Zone of legal wrangling as to who won the seat and as our man on the scene in Minneapolis, MA, reports the Supreme Court seems to be getting more agitated at Coleman with every new brief, so the upshot is likely that Democratic Candidate and former TV and Radio Comic/Talk Show host Al Franken will be declared the winner.

Will the Senate seat Franken? More than likely, even if it is an interim appointment pending the outcome of the Coleman Court Challenge. Has this happened before? The short Answer is yes.

After a U.S. Senate election 34 years ago in New Hampshire, the winner was not determined until 10 months later -- and only after a second election was held. In Minnesota's famous 1962 gubernatorial race, Gov. Elmer L. Andersen held a small lead in the initial results but lost the recount by 91 votes and resigned from office four months after the November election.

Political observers believe Franken will be seated, However, some think it might actually be several weeks before the Senate acts. Meanwhile will the state suffer with only one Senator? Lots of disagreement there as well but options might be to increase temporarily the remaining Senator's staff to handle the day to day constituency requests.

Al Franken leads by 250 votes at the end of Friday - (12-19-08)
Monday the absentee ballot count continues but observers feel the Democrats will pick up the seat in the official count, but it will be challenged at the Supreme Court Level. We plan a comprehensive look back at the election 2008 whenever the Minnesota Seat is decided.

TWO-VOTE LEAD BUT PROJECTION OF WINNER IN SENATE RACE SAYS THAT LEAD WILL FADE INTO THE COLD MINNESOTA NIGHT -

By Jerry Pippin

11:00 p.m 12-18-08) This is an unbelievable election story. It has suspense, intrigue and all of the makings of the closest race in history. By night fall, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman had only a two-vote lead. The Supreme Court ruled that the absentee ballots will be counted and this has caused several election experts to declare that Democratic candidate, former Saturday Night Comic, Al Franken will win. The Minneapolis Star Tribune says, by 89 votes in their projection and our election consultant who has been on the scene all day, MA (http://malkabir.blogspot.com) reports to us that his take is a Franken win. He reports the ruling was the nail in the coffin for Coleman amid suspicions that Coleman's party was engaged in "hanky panky" or "fuzzy Math." MA reports the FBI is now investigating Coleman and his role in the election for the Senate. Odds are this race will end up being decided by the Senate, but no one wants to go out on a limb just yet on the final outcome. MA reports there has been consistent undercounting of Democratic votes in Republican Precincts and it is believed the absentee ballots in question will favor Franken.

When will this race be decided? The short answer is nobody knows.
Click Here for more details.

(December 8, 2008) It Was Quick. A Fast NO from the Supreme Court on the law suit from New Jersey saying President Elect Barack Obama was not a natural born citizen. Only one other case is left and that is the appeal of Phillip J. Berg, a Pennsylvania Lawyer who alleges that Obama was born in Kenya. Most people expect it to be rejected as well. CLICK HERE to read the story from CBS news.

OBAMA PRESIDENCY FATE RESTS WITH CLARENCE THOMAS

(12-07-08) On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor when a strike at the heart of American Democracy occurred 67 years ago a more modern assault on Democracy is crafted in the hearts of the neo cons who are weeping at the thought of giving up power to a liberal black man, President Elect Barack Obama. The plan seems to be a simple one, one they used to seize power in 2000 and that was simply to turn it over to the Supreme Court. This time around it deals with a technical issue about the term naturally born in the US as spelled out in the Constitution.

Several law suits have been winding their way through the nation's courts asking the question was Obama really born in Hawaii or quickly spirited there from Kenya so he could be declared a native of the US as a Hawaii born? Most legal experts have given this case little or no chance to go anywhere but a new twist was announced on Sunday. Obama foe and the Supreme Court's most positive neo conservative, Judge Clarence Thomas, a Bush appointment that created a firestorm back when the current President's father was President will decide if the case goes forward.

The announcement will come this Friday. So the question is and has been all along, is this the ploy that the Bush People were intending to use to create havoc just before Obama's inauguration? No one quite knows what will happen next, if the Supreme Court rules against the Democrats as it frequently does, can Congress just simply change the definition of natural born? Or will there have to be a Constitutional amendment, will Vice President Joe Biden take over or will the opposition petition the Supreme Court for a new election or could President Bush, the junior, simply declare a national emergency under the Patriot Act and stay in power?

Jerry Pippin

filed at 5:00 p.m. Sunday December 7, 2008

NOTE: In a recent article about this, The Chicago Tribune noted that, "Many petitioners seeking stays of pending events have their cases distributed to the full court, ... Of those, 782 were denied in the last eight years while just 60 were heard—and not all of those ultimately were successful."

Saxby Chambliss Won Georgia Tonight
It was not a huge surprise. In the general election Chambliss did win a hundred thousand more votes than opponent Jim Martin, the Democrat. Chambliss won easily tonight because the only hope the Democrats had was a huge black vote turnout and it didn't happen. So now the Republicans have a victory to hold on to as they enter into a very bleak 2009 out numbered for the first time in years. The loss does stop the Democrats from having a veto-proof Congress by one vote so far, but in Minneapolis the GOP clings to a vote lead of less than a hundred (that's right less than a hundred vote margin) with the counting slated to end on Friday. Saxby started out with a big lead and finished the night with about a 2 to 1 margin.

Georgia Voters Head Back To The Polls
Balance Of Power At Stake In Senate Runoff Between Incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss And Democrat Jim Martin - CLICK HERE for the story from CBS news.

Good Background piece on the Georgia Senate Race- CLICK HERE to listen to the "All Things Considered" the day before the election.

Live Video when available on this election story from CBS News CLICK HERE

UPDATE: Election Board denies Franken a recount on challenges of absentee ballots but does not rule out a court hearing. Election observers say the final count may separate the two candidate's tally to less than a hundred-vote difference or perhaps as little as a 10 vote margin- This seat may be in contest and not settled when the new session opens in January.

December Before They (We) Know

(11-22-08) At 7:00 pm tonight there were only 115 votes between Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent and Al Franken, the former comic turned Democratic Senate Candidate. Only about 30 precincts are left for the recount and both men have won and loss votes. 1,300 plus votes are involved in challenges by the two and the Election Officials in Minnesota don't plan to examine those ballots until a December meeting. Alaska had a close race as well but the Democrat came out on top there and in Georgia there is a run off scheduled for December 2nd. If the Democrats pick up both of these seats then they will have the magic 60 veto-proof number in the Senate.
Click Here for details from CBS news.

Democrats Inch Toward 60 Seats in Senate
(Nov 18 2008) - Democrat Mark Begich appears headed to victory over Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in Alaska's U.S. Senate race. The Anchorage mayor widened his lead to 3,724 votes in Tuesday's counting of absentee and questioned ballots. The only votes left to count are approximately 2,500 special absentees from people living outside the U.S. or in remote parts of Alaska with no polling place. The state will count those final ballots on Nov. 25.

Democratic Senator for Alaska?
No one knows for sure, but a slight lead has opened up for the Anchorage Mayor who challenged Senator Ted Stevens in the race. Stevens has been charges with crimes and observers thought that his election would pave the way for Governor Sarah Palin to replace him if the Senate denied his nomination because of the court decision. Alaska voting officials say the final accounting on the election will not be known before next week- CLICK HERE for more details.

As voters left the polls on Election Day, many were asked how they would have voted if the election match-up were between Hillary Clinton and John McCain rather than Barack Obama and McCain. 52 percent said they would have backed the former Democratic candidate; 41 percent would have voted for McCain, wider than Obama’s 7-point margin over McCain. CLICK HERE for more on the exit polling by CBS news.

Landslide for Barack Obama, now President-Elect-
North Carolina goes for Obama but Missouri still too close to call.
Obama has over twice as many electoral votes as McCain.

Three Senate Seats Still Undecided

(1:00 p.m. Eastern- 11-06-08) Oregon's Gordon Smith, A two term Republican Senator lost his seat to the Democratic Challenger according to election projections today but three seats are still too close to call. Alaska Republicans may lose their Senate Seat and Minnesota and Georgia are still too close to call because of third party candidates taking votes away from probably Democratic Candidate. CLICK HERE for details.

Senator John McCain concedes in Phoenix. His concession speech was eloquent and an effort to get his supporters to support the new President. MP3 Running time: 9 minute, 52 seconds Windows Media Version

President-elect Barack Obama holds a victory rally for 65,000 fans in Chicago. He sets tone for new administration in dynamic presentation.

MP3 Running time: 16 minutes, 34 seconds.

Windows Media Version

NEWS VIEWS from Jerry Pippin and columnist Jerry Wilhite

HISTORY WAS MADE ALRIGHT -
But In More Than One Way!

by Jerry Pippin

(11-05-08) Midnight and the hour is great. Great for many reasons and some I will talk about here and some will only be apparent to us later, maybe years later. The obvious, a black man is now our President but there was something else I noticed tonight, and it only became apparent when there was a mix up with us press members on what John McCain, the loser was going to do. For a little while it looked like Sarah Palin was going to be his spokes person. This would have been historic as well. Events unfolded fast and all of sudden instead of Mrs. Palin there was the Senator and he spoke handsomely.

It dawned on me that the losers in this election 2008 need to be commended. Senator Hillary Clinton spoke well for Democracy and grace in her concession speech to Senator Obama, er, excuse me, President Elect Obama as well. What was it about this campaign that many of us saw as dividing and irritable that ends up with what American Politics is supposed to be about...the way I remembered it as a boy..decades ago. Hard-fought campaigns but a willingness to join hands in the end and work for the good of America. Could we be headed back to a time when compromise and working out details so all sides at least are willing to accept them without grudges?

Senator McCain did his part tonight and he was magnificent in defeat. Then came the victor, President-to-be Barack Obama speaking to 65,000 strong in a park in Chicago that at one time back in 1968 was the scene of one of the worse sides of the Democratic Party, the head-beating of the anti-war hippies by police and now just as the civil rights battles have faded into successes, the black man speaking clearly and emotionally in a park in Chicago seemed to tell it all.

There is hope for America.

HOPE AND HONOR ARE ALIVE!
By Jerry Wilhite

I witnessed an outpouring of love tonight unlike any I have ever seen. It poured forth from America to its newly elected President, Barack Obama. His words, though brief, gave hope to a country where, a day before, there was little. His words assured the world that the America they had honored was awakening.

I watched tears flow down many faces. They were tears of joy, awe, and pride. Maybe, just maybe, racism is gasping its last breath in our country. Maybe, just maybe, we can move forward, united.

The coming years will be fraught with worries and trouble. However, united, we can do anything. YES, WE CAN!!

This may well be the last political article I write. If it is, rest assured, an American that can see a future wrote it. It was written in a wildly optimistic state. A man who hopes to live long enough to see “YES, WE CAN” wrote it become YES, WE DID!!