Pardon the BloggEruption

More Election Rundown

Colorado: Sen. Wayne Allard knew something no one outside of Colorado seemed to know -- he was never in any serious danger.

Florida: Ditto.

Maryland: Ehrlich's win over Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, while historically unexpected, was no major shock. She ran a very weak campaign and was seriously hindered by an unpopular outgoing Democrat governor (Glendening). More unnoticed by the media was Ehrlich's running mate, Michael Steele. Steele, an African-American, may have pulled a number of votes from the normally-monolithic black community, particularly since KKT did not choose a black running mate (she was under much pressure to do so). Congressionally, the GOP loses two seats to the Democrats here, but that was not particularly surprising. Redistricting by the Democratic legislature and shifting Maryland demographics had sealed that fate a while ago.

Missouri: As has been stated before, sympathy only extends so far. The Widow Carnahan kept it close with Jim Talent, largely due to overwhelming support coming out of St. Louis (which raises some issues in and of itself ... STL has become the modern Chicago of voter fraud). I would expect Talent to retain the office in 2006, barring any personal scandals. Missouri's a fairly moderate to conservative state, and incumbents have historically performed well (albeit in squeakers) here.

Minnesota: As I predicted (though not on this page), Mondale tanked in the days leading up to the election, most notably after the Wellstone memorial fiasco. Coleman was the clear winner of Monday morning's debate, though it is certainly questionable as to what effect, if any, that had on the race. My gut tells me that the debate's effect was limited to reducing Mondale's numbers, rather than increasing Coleman's. While this is highly speculative, I'm going to say that if Wellstone doesn't die, Coleman still wins. Pawlenty's victory in the wide-open gubernatorial race with 46% of the vote is promising for GOP prospects here in 2004, particularly if the younger, independent-minded Ventura crowd can be wooed with promises of Social Security and tax reform.

I could go on, but I think that's enough for now.