Some non-U.S. election news: Reagan is dead and Ortega is back in power. So much for America's influence in the Americas. Ortega's victory is something of "an embarrassing setback for the Bush administration," which sought to keep him out of power, but of course so much of Latin America has drifted to the left and away from the U.S. in recent years. There may be many reasons … [Read more...] about The return of Daniel Ortega

This will be updated with a few new ones as the day develops. Political scientist Steven aka "Poliblogger" Taylor gives us THESE. UPDATE: --Dick Polman gives us some vital bellwethers to watch so we can make our own informed predictions as tonight's returns trickle in. --CNN's Jeff Greenfield tells us what to watch for hour by hour. … [Read more...] about More Political Predictions (UPDATED)

From an email I received:There have been a number of voting problems, issues and indiscrepancies reported. If you or someone you know is challenged in any way, experiences long lines due to inadequate booths and scanners, problems scanning the ballot, uninformed poll workers, purged names of long time voters from the voter ledgers at the polls or has been recently been … [Read more...] about Having Problems Voting?

USA Today reports problems in three states:Election machine glitches caused delays and jangled nerves in at least three states today as voters began turning out for midterm elections that could set the tone for the last two years of President Bush's term in office. Up for grabs are all 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats and governorships in 36 states as well as ballot … [Read more...] about Three States Report Voting Machine Problems

Some talk radio shows in San Diego are getting lots of callers from San Diego reporting major problems in voting: long lines, electronic voting machines that don't work, people leaving because they have to go to work. (See our review of THIS DVD). Some voters have reportedly asked for paper ballots and are filling them out. A judge reportedly has said paper ballots don't have … [Read more...] about Talk Radio Shows In San Diego Crammed With Calls About Voting Problems Here

The FBI is investigating a complaint about possible attempted voter suppression in Virginia:The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the possibility of voter intimidation in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. George Allen, a Republican, and Democratic challenger James Webb, officials told NBC News. It just coincidentally happens to be a very tight race. AND:State … [Read more...] about FBI Investigates Alleged Voter Intimidation In Virginia (UPDATED)

TMV will offer a lot of posts today and there are two ways to follow our Election Day coverage. (1) Read posts as usual, scrolling down to look at the other election related posts as well. (2) Click the chain posts page which says "Related Posts (on one page)" which will give you all posts written on Election Day. Only election-related posts written today will be on that link. … [Read more...] about Two Ways To Read TMV’s Election Day Coverage

Race versus disloyalty; false postives versus false negatives. … [Read more...] about Comparative Error Rates

The Talking Dog has done a series of excellent interviews with people who are involved with detainee issues. HERE IS ANOTHER ONE — this time an interview with Eric Freedman, Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law, author of "Habeas Corpus, Rethinking the Great Writ of Liberty," and numerous articles on constitutional law and related subjects and one of … [Read more...] about Original Blog Interview: The Talking Dog Interviews Eric Freedman

Post your diverse thoughts, etc. about the elections in comments below. … [Read more...] about Readers’ Special Election Day Open Thread

Today is the day when Americans will decide whether to stay the Republican majority party's course or return to divided government. But the decision hasn't been made yet. The votes haven't been cast yet. The votes haven't been counted yet. The lawyers haven't even litigated the final count yet... But there are almost as many predictions about what will happen today as there … [Read more...] about Political Obituaries and Predictions Mark 2006 Election Eve

… [Read more...] about Don’t Forget:

In a few short years, American legislators have shot their country in the foot so many times that its moral, economic, political and military influence in world affairs is unlikely to recover for decades. In fact, it may never recover since other major nations are not sitting idle while America weakens from within. A main reason for this growing weakness is the state of US … [Read more...] about Democracy fatigue in America

Is THIS. And just guess what party is putting it out? (If you hear a sound, it's Abraham Lincoln rolling over in his grave...) The same party that's doing THIS which is sparking a lot of complaints. UPDATE: And it spreads. … [Read more...] about The Most Repulsive RACIST Political Ad Ever (UPDATED)

If the Republicans lose tomorrow, one of the reasons may be Bob Woodward. At Limbo, J. Kingston Pierce explains why. … [Read more...] about The importance of Bob Woodward

In what Heraclitus calls "[t]he dirtiest and most unscrupulous political ad this side of a swift boat". See here. … [Read more...] about DeWine plumbs new depths

I highly recommend Andrew Sullivan's piece in yesterday's Sunday Times. It's a thoughtful examination of the 2006 midterms and of America's current political climate. But it's not without its problems. As you all may know, Sullivan is a conservative who finds himself at odds with the two dominant strains of conservatism in the Republican Party, the social conservatism … [Read more...] about Sullivan’s travels

A new Fox News poll — adding to the roller coaster of sometimes contradictory polls — now shows the Democrats way ahead:Nearly half of likely voters — 49 percent — favor the Democratic candidate in their House district and 36 percent the Republican, with 15 percent still undecided in a FOX News poll conducted the final weekend before the midterm elections. More … [Read more...] about Fox News Poll: Democrats Ahead By 13 Percent In Congress Race

Kevin Drum had a great post up over the weekend on "the neocon rehabilitation project," which is currently playing out in an article by David Rose in Vanity Fair (see Glenn Greenwald, too). The neocons are looking for someone to blame, a scapegoat, but of course they have no one to blame for the fiasco in Iraq but themselves. The Iraq War is simply neoconservatism par … [Read more...] about Project for a new neoconservatism

From Election Predictions... … [Read more...] about Some Election Predictions