Right up front, I should let you know that we’ll be bringing you some live, election night coverage this evening over at Rick Moran’s radio show, where I will be co-hosting a two hour extravaganza of this … ummm… exciting event. Be sure to stop by with your own thoughts and comments. But on with the news:
On election night, the usual silliness is already breaking out in the blogosphere regarding the few, closely watched races which will be closing in a few hours. There are claims that Democrats are being intimidated by rowdy Hoffman supporters in the NY 23 race, doing either “electioneering” or “intimidation” (depending on your preferences) inside the markers laid out by election law. Our friend Ed Morrissey dismisses the allegations in large part, saying:
This appears to be a strategy for someone who believes their side will lose.
Of course, those are allegations about supporters of the candidate. From the other side, the candidate (Hoffman) himself is claiming that Democrats are tying to “steal the election” by slashing the tires of one of his GOTV volunteers. Of course, the Wall Street Journal followed up with the Plattsburgh Police who said that the volunteer “damaged his tire on a broken bottle.”
By this logic, it appears that both sides think they’re going to lose!
We’ve got some exclusive updates for you here at TMV, where I’ve been calling some friends and relatives across the 23rd. Up in the hamlet of Raquette Lake, a friend of my aunt’s is one of the “blue haired ladies” who volunteer at the voting precinct, and she tells us that “as many as two dozen people” voted today. (In a village with roughly 70 year round residents, that’s not really a shocking number. Many of them live in spots only accessible by boat and it takes a lot to get them to cross the lakes.)
Another cousin outside of Watertown said that the turnout has been “fairly normal, maybe a little slow” in the afternoon and during the dinner hour, but nothing unusual seemed to be going on.
We shall see what we shall see, as a wise woman once said. Stay tuned.