Happy US Mid-Term Election Results

Most of my wish list from yesterday came true!

Adrian Fenty is now mayor-elect of Washington DC, taking 90% of the vote totals. Sounds like a solid mandate to me.

Maryland races: I despise our governor, Bob Ehrlich (R). While I'm not wild about Martin O'Malley (D), he'd do. And indeed, O'Malley won, displacing Ehrlich and thus the first turfing of a single-term incumbent in Maryland since 1951. Michael Steele (R), the lieutenant-governor seems a nice enough guy but he was too close to Ehrlich in my books so I preferred to see him lose his bid for the US senate as well as keep the seat in Democratic hands as a message to Bush; fortunately, Ben Cardin (D) won so I'm content with the results.

Ohio: Blackwell went down in flames. Yay! More than almost any other race, I was happy with this particular result.

Florida: Kathleen Harris loses. Yay again! She is simply too much a hyper-pseudo-christian, vain, unstable nutjob for public office anywhere.

Virginia: Allen (R) vs. Webb (D). Hmm... Don't like either of them but I'd prefer Webb to help keep the senate out of Republican hands. At the moment, Webb is indeed in the lead but by such a slim margin a recount is an inevitability.

Overall: The wins in the House of Reps was more than I dared hope. The gains in the Senate far exceeded my expectations, even if the remaining two undecided races go to the Republicans. Of course, I'd be happier if they went to Democratic hands but I fear saying so out loud may appear greedy.

Anything which can tame the right-wing extremes of the GOP or hamstring W's making-it-up-as-he-goes non-agenda would be a very good thing in my books.

Happy US Mid-Term Election Results

Most of my wish list from yesterday came true!

Adrian Fenty is now mayor-elect of Washington DC, taking 90% of the vote totals. Sounds like a solid mandate to me.

Maryland races: I despise our governor, Bob Ehrlich (R). While I'm not wild about Martin O'Malley (D), he'd do. And indeed, O'Malley won, displacing Ehrlich and thus the first turfing of a single-term incumbent in Maryland since 1951. Michael Steele (R), the lieutenant-governor seems a nice enough guy but he was too close to Ehrlich in my books so I preferred to see him lose his bid for the US senate as well as keep the seat in Democratic hands as a message to Bush; fortunately, Ben Cardin (D) won so I'm content with the results.

Ohio: Blackwell went down in flames. Yay! More than almost any other race, I was happy with this particular result.

Florida: Kathleen Harris loses. Yay again! She is simply too much a hyper-pseudo-christian, vain, unstable nutjob for public office anywhere.

Virginia: Allen (R) vs. Webb (D). Hmm... Don't like either of them but I'd prefer Webb to help keep the senate out of Republican hands. At the moment, Webb is indeed in the lead but by such a slim margin a recount is an inevitability.

Overall: The wins in the House of Reps was more than I dared hope. The gains in the Senate far exceeded my expectations, even if the remaining two undecided races go to the Republicans. Of course, I'd be happier if they went to Democratic hands but I fear saying so out loud may appear greedy.

Anything which can tame the right-wing extremes of the GOP or hamstring W's making-it-up-as-he-goes non-agenda would be a very good thing in my books.

Paperwork

Even while monitoring election results, I managed to be somewhat productive through the evening.

kent4str and I traveled up to Columbia, MD, to borrow Dayle Hodge's square dance sound system to have as a back-up for this weekend's upcoming Harper's Ferry Hoedown.

I sorted through some papers and caught up on filing. Bills were paid, one donation was sent, automated billing for both my Earthlink and Bell ExpressVu accounts were updated and I cleaned the master bathroom a little.

Importantly, I finally had a chance to dig through the medicine cabinet and located the stash of contact lenses I was sure was in there somewhere. I don't need those lenses yet but we're going through open enrollment at work and I needed to know if I needed to set aside funds for a year's supply of contacts. Clearly, the answer is no. However, since my dentist is leaving Aetna's dental plan, I have to increase my medical savings account appropriately from $300/year to $700/year. That should easily cover all medical checkup, prescription and dental care co-pays for the year.

( More stuff on work-related benefits... )

Paperwork

Even while monitoring election results, I managed to be somewhat productive through the evening.

kent4str and I traveled up to Columbia, MD, to borrow Dayle Hodge's square dance sound system to have as a back-up for this weekend's upcoming Harper's Ferry Hoedown.

I sorted through some papers and caught up on filing. Bills were paid, one donation was sent, automated billing for both my Earthlink and Bell ExpressVu accounts were updated and I cleaned the master bathroom a little.

Importantly, I finally had a chance to dig through the medicine cabinet and located the stash of contact lenses I was sure was in there somewhere. I don't need those lenses yet but we're going through open enrollment at work and I needed to know if I needed to set aside funds for a year's supply of contacts. Clearly, the answer is no. However, since my dentist is leaving Aetna's dental plan, I have to increase my medical savings account appropriately from $300/year to $700/year. That should easily cover all medical checkup, prescription and dental care co-pays for the year.

( More stuff on work-related benefits... )

Nancy Pelosi?

Does anyone think Nancy Pelosi is all that scary as a potential house leader?

I'm more afraid she may not have the skills required to solidify a new majority, hold to the advertised agenda and build a base for the 2008 election cycle. Going insane with power or launching a series of extreme left-wing initiatives seem extremely unlikely, despite the demonization of her over the past number of months.

Nancy Pelosi?

Does anyone think Nancy Pelosi is all that scary as a potential house leader?

I'm more afraid she may not have the skills required to solidify a new majority, hold to the advertised agenda and build a base for the 2008 election cycle. Going insane with power or launching a series of extreme left-wing initiatives seem extremely unlikely, despite the demonization of her over the past number of months.

I *heart* Wonkette

And this is how I will always remember this particular election cycle. :-)

I *heart* Wonkette

And this is how I will always remember this particular election cycle. :-)

Vaya Con Dios, GOP

I'm savouring this.

Vaya Con Dios, GOP

I'm savouring this.