Down the ballot: Sarah, meet Ludacris
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2008 9:32 AM by Carrie Dann
Filed Under:
Congress, Sarah Palin
GEORGIA: The Georgia Senate runoff is tomorrow. Which group will turnout in fewer numbers: African-Americans for Martin or evangelicals for Chambliss? Both groups turned out in big numbers in November. Also, "Cash from outside groups has rushed into Georgia, much of it tied to a major battle between the business community and organized labor. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent more than $1 million on advertising in the state. It fears that if Democrats won a filibuster-proof majority, they would pass a bill making it easier for unions to form in businesses. Under the "card check" legislation, companies would recognize unions if a majority of workers signed cards saying they favored a union, replacing the traditional method of a secret ballot among workers. The AFL-CIO said it was sending 10,000 volunteers to Georgia in the final week to drive the union vote. There are about 325,000 union voters in the state, which could make a difference in a low-turnout election."
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The results from the Georgia Senate race
won't necessarily mean much as far as Senate power is concerned. Being two or three away from 60 means they'll be wooing some moderate GOPers, a doable proposition according to most Senate observers.
Sarah Palin
campaigns for Chambliss today in an effort to spike the evangelical turnout.
The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution previews the final day of campaigning for the Senate run-off here. "Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will appear with Saxby Chambliss at four campaign rallies Monday after headlining private Atlanta fund-raisers Sunday night at the tony W Hotel in Midtown… Jim Martin will spend the day on a statewide bus tour that will take him from a MARTA stop in Atlanta in the morning to Augusta, then Macon and back to a rally at the state Capitol at 5:30 p.m. with civil rights veterans and hip-hop star Ludacris."
MINNESOTA: With 88% of the recount completed, Norm Coleman has a 282-vote lead over Al Franken, with more than 5,000 challenged ballots. The Minneapolis Star Tribune says that the math isn't on Franken's side. "To win his case before the state Canvassing Board, Franken must prevail on more than 6 percent of his challenges of Coleman votes even if Coleman fails to succeed on any of his challenges."
The Franken camp's estimate puts Coleman's lead at just 73 votes. Their "calculation is based in part on the assumption that challenges are typically not sustained and that therefore Coleman's lead is inflated because his side has filed more challenges than Franken's -- 147 more, according to the Star Tribune analysis."
Video: As the recount nears an end in the disputed Minnesota Senate vote between incumbent Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken, the tension increases with each new ballot counted. KARE's John Croman reports.
The
Star Tribune also reported that on Wednesday, the state Canvassing Board turned down the Franken campaign's request "to include rejected absentee ballots in the U.S. Senate recount, prompting a Franken attorney to threaten to go all the way to Washington if necessary to get them considered. 'Whether it is at the county level, before the Canvassing Board, before the courts or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet. But we remain confident these votes will be counted,' said Marc Elias, the campaign's lead recount attorney, who added that he won't appeal the board's decision."
More: "Cullen Sheehan, campaign manager for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, called Elias' [statement] 'a troubling new development.' He asked Franken to accept the recount results if he loses, and to promise Minnesotans 'that he will not allow this election to be overturned by the leadership of the Democratic Senate.'
