2006 Elections

UPDATE: Keith Ellison is also the first ImpeachPAC candidate to win a Congressional Election. Congratulations!

Massachussets elects its first African American governor and first woman Attorney General.

Now comes word Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives :

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim Americans make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered U.S. voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim Americans have become sensitized to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. U.S. foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.

Reuters

George Allen concedes, Jim Webb wins and Democrats control the Senate, 51 to 49. Sweet!

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Nov 9, 2006 (AP)— Republican Sen. George Allen gracefully conceded defeat Thursday after a bruising battle against Democrat Jim Webb, sealing the Democrats' control of Congress and the political downfall of a man once considered a White House contender.

Allen said the "owners of government have spoken and I respect their decision."
Source : ABC News

The under-30 crowd not only rocked the vote on Tuesday, but they did so happily in favor of Democrats:

Republican pollster Ed Goeas said young voters could have swayed a number of tight races on Tuesday, noting that of 28 seats Democrats picked up from Republicans in the 435-member House of Representatives, 22 were won by less than 2 percent of the vote and 18 were won by just 5,000 votes or less.

"The increase in the youth vote did come into play," he said.

Do we have to spell out why Generation Y would have voted Democrat?

A poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics last week showed that by a three-to-one margin, young Americans said the country was on the "wrong track."

Forty-six percent favored a total troop withdrawal from Iraq within a year, while a third said troops should be withdrawn after the Iraqis take full control.

Future elections could also be at stake. The "Generation Y" of Americans born from 1977 to 1994 -- shaped by the September 11 attacks, the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina -- in nine years will make up a third of the electorate.

Feeling it!

'Tis The Cell Block Tango, a Bob Fosse great, in honor of Donald Rumsfeld and the GOP. Enjoy.

The weekest link in the executive cabinet has been forced out of office. Donald Rumsfeld has been told to go buh-bye after Democrats swept Congress and are one win away from taking over the Senate as well.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary on Wednesday, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in
Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses.
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President Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates, a former
CIA director, to replace Rumsfeld at the
Pentagon.

Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."

Bush lavished praise on Rumsfeld, who has spent six stormy years at his post. The president disclosed he met with Gates last Sunday, two days before the elections in which Democrats swept to control of the House and possibly the Senate.

Last week, as he campaigned to save the Republican majority, Bush declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term

A white woman's spite turns into a racist political campaign now passed into law. A law that would allow public universities and civil service departments to discriminate against minorities.

What does Jennifer Gratz think? That it will give the advantage to white women over white men?

This in from Michigan:

The ballot proposal was headed by Jennifer Gratz, the Southgate Anderson High School graduate who sued University of Michigan in 1997 to challenge its use of racial preferences in admissions.

Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court. When the court upheld the use of race as a factor in university admissions she and Connerly went to work to put the question before voters.

The passage of Prop 2 effectively overhauls the University of Michigan's selective admissions process and puts outreach, recruitment and financial aid programs for minorities and women in jeopardy. While U-M's use of affirmative action has been widely publicized, other less-selective Michigan colleges have gender- and race-specific programs and scholarships that would likely be challenged.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman will address the university at noon today about the impact of Prop 2's passage. Leaders predict that enrollment of black, Hispanic and Native American students combined will plummet from 12-14 percent of the student body to about 4-6 percent.

Let Freedom Ring!

South Dakota voters overturned the most restrictive abortion law in the nation Tuesday, handing abortion rights supporters a huge victory in a conservative state.

The law was signed in March but was put on hold pending the election. If approved, it would have barred almost all abortions, including for rape and incest victims, and allowed them only if a mother's life was in jeopardy.

"This is a wake-up call to lawmakers in other states that the American pro-choice majority will not allow any assault on Roe v. Wade to go unanswered," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America

Unfortunately, they not only re-elected the man that signed the law, Gov. Mike Rounds, but they also banned gay-marriage.

Massachussets elects its first African American governor and first woman Attorney General.

Now comes word Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives :

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim Americans make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered U.S. voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim Americans have become sensitized to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. U.S. foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.

“(Americans) treat us differently after Sept. 11. My own father was attacked,” said Ellison supporter Khadra Darsame, a 1995 immigrant from Somalia. “Ellison said everybody matters equally and he told us what he would do ... he will do the right thing.”

Jim Webb is winning by half a percentage point. He should declare victory NOW. Force Allen to go on the defensive.