I voted today!

[STPickrell]

Hopefully the rest of you who are over 18 can say the same thing.

[LibertyMarie]

I voted last weekish...

[East Buc & UMR]

First time voting before 7am.... and everyone and their brother was there chit chatting.

[DeckardCain]

I voted last weekish...

Same here.

[Jeffrey Hill]

About a week and a half ago - turned it in on the 27th while I was home.

[STPickrell]

Yay.

My understanding of MO politics is that KC and STL are blue and everywhere else is a big ocean of red. While MO is usually seen as a swing state it has been a while since a lot of attention was focused on Virginia.

My wife and I got in line at 545am and it was like the Star Wars opening with some 15-20 people waiting in line already in front of us. By the time we left at 6:15am the line was already 3/4 of the way out of the school.

They have a talking touchscreen machine which is great except the problem for her is that the buttons are not raised. Which, if you are 100% blind is of little use. So she trusted the chief judge (she's gotten used to us) to mark the ballot correctly.

[Jeffrey Hill]

My understanding of MO politics is that KC and STL are blue and everywhere else is a big ocean of red. While MO is usually seen as a swing state it has been a while since a lot of attention was focused on Virginia.

That's pretty much true as far as I know... although for some reason I want to say KC is not quite as blue* (of course, that's probably because the House district we live in has a large rural population so it leans more red), but the heart of the city is definitely blue. Kyle would definitely know more than I would. Oddly enough, I had no idea Cleaver was even running for re-election in the 5th district (although I figured he was) - but then again I haven't really been in KC much since August so I been spared seeing all the attack ads on TV.

*you should probably ignore this; I have no idea what I'm talking about and it's probably very wrong. I hate politics

[DeckardCain]

My understanding of MO politics is that KC and STL are blue and everywhere else is a big ocean of red. While MO is usually seen as a swing state it has been a while since a lot of attention was focused on Virginia.

The Democrats are considering it a victory if McCaskill gets 42% of the vote here in Phelps County.

[East Buc & UMR]

STL, KC, and I believe Columbia were the only Blue parts of the state in 2004.

[DeckardCain]

Ste. Genevieve County went for Kerry as well, not that it made much difference.

[scphilli]

Thankfully it's not raining in STL City today (unlike yesterday). I waited 40 minutes to vote, which is faster than the presidential elections but slower than a garden variety primary. I got to use a touch screen for the first time ever. That was pretty cool. As for the MO breakdown: yes, STL county, city, KC, and Boone county are the bluest parts of MO, but don't underestimate a candidate who tries to play up her meth connections. The reports I'm getting is that the rural turnout was high in part because of McCaskill's attempts to turn out the vote on that issue. Of course, they could just be coming out to vote against her disingenuous self, who knows? God, I held my nose so hard on that one it almost bled.

[Jeffrey Hill]

Don't know why the colors are backwards but blue is for Bush and red is for Gore/Kerry

2000:


2004:


And here's the 2002 Senate election between Talent and Jean Carnahan:



US Election Atlas

[Charlie Dees]

I would say that Kansas City is unfortunately not a blue city. There's a big mix here, and there are some incredibly conservative mindsets that are rampant in the city.

[STPickrell]

Thankfully it's not raining in STL City today (unlike yesterday). I waited 40 minutes to vote, which is faster than the presidential elections but slower than a garden variety primary. I got to use a touch screen for the first time ever. That was pretty cool. As for the MO breakdown: yes, STL county, city, KC, and Boone county are the bluest parts of MO, but don't underestimate a candidate who tries to play up her meth connections. The reports I'm getting is that the rural turnout was high in part because of McCaskill's attempts to turn out the vote on that issue. Of course, they could just be coming out to vote against her disingenuous self, who knows? God, I held my nose so hard on that one it almost bled.

Tell me more of this meth thing.

I've been too busy following the mudslinging in my own Senate race and all I knew was that "Missouri close. Hulk VOTE!"

BTW, the FBI is investigating the phone calls made by the "Election Committee" to random Virginians. George Allen's self-immolation has to rank as one of the most spectacular implosions ever. People were actually considering this clown to be a 2008 Presidential candidate and were even thinking Allen-Warner in 2008.

[scphilli]

I would say that Kansas City is unfortunately not a blue city. There's a big mix here, and there are some incredibly conservative mindsets that are rampant in the city.

Seriously? Dude, look at the results from Jackson County in just about any election for the last several years. Just because it ain't St. Louis, doesn't mean it's not blue.

And to Shawn, basically McCaskill is running that she is tough on meth which is a major major problem in the rural areas and she is making an effort to get like-minded voters to the polls whereas in the past most Democrats prayed the rural voters stayed home.

[Charlie Dees]

Okay, first off. There are about 5 other counties in the metropolitan area. And when I still see lots and lots of signs for Jim Talent driving around that tells me there is still a mix. At my school there is a much more popular Republican club then there is a Democrat club. Lots of people I know hate McCaskill. In many areas of KC it's still too close to call.

[DeckardCain]

Well, at least Iron County got one of those three elections right.

[Jeffrey Hill]

At least how I perceive it:
South of the river (which would be Jackson County) - definitely more Democratic
Everywhere else on the MO side - pretty evenly split
No idea about the KS side but they're probably more liberal (who cares about JoCo anyway??)
--never mind; for 2004 Senatorial race Wyandotte (where the Speedway, NFM, etc are) was the only Democratic KS county; in 2000 and 2004 presidential elections Wyandotte and Douglas were the only two. (JoCo on the other hand was at least 60% Bush in both presidential elections)

[size=0]Oh and a whopping 343 people in Clay County voted for Badnarik in '04.[/size]

[mujason]

George Allen sucks. His "macaca" comment was directed toward S. R. Sidarth, Virginia quiz bowl legend. Go Webb!

[East Buc & UMR]

Well Chuck you live in Clay county not Jackson.... Jackson is like 80% democrat.

The one on there that is weird is Platte....

[LibertyMarie]

you know what bugs me? how they were running results on the news...WITH ONE PERCENT OF PRECINCTS REPORTING. one percent, that means pretty much NOTHING.

[DeckardCain]

[East Buc & UMR]

YAY Claire won Clinton

[DeckardCain]

Why is "Kansas City" listed as a separate county on the Secretary of State web site?

[Jeffrey Hill]

Looks like Clay Chastain has finally won after his umpteenth attempt... go back to Virginia (no offense but he should not be trying to push for light rail in KC when he lives in VA)

[East Buc & UMR]

Working in downtown KC and seeing how many people use the buses, and going to Chicago and seeing how much smoother the El trains are to getting mass amount of people to the center of the city. I think KC could learn a lesson in a light rail system.....With a downtown hub with lines running from KCI, Olathe/OP, Ind/Blue Springs, Lee's Summit and one from Liberty/I-35 area. Sure it would cost alot but it is needed. Sitting in traffic for 25 minutes a day to get across the river is getting very old.

[DeckardCain]

It's looking more and more like the balance of power in the Senate comes down to Missouri...

[East Buc & UMR]

tossup with MO or VA.... that Margin in VA is razor thin

[DeckardCain]

Allen had better hope that last 1% pushes him over, because there's no way he's making up that many votes in the inevitable recount.


And Claire just took the lead

[mujason]

Well, I've been looking at the votes and Webb still has about a 2500 vote lead with only a few votes left to count (a decent number of which are in Fairfax County, which is voting about 60% Webb so far). Webb should hold on to win in the initial counts and the recount. In Missouri, Claire has a 25,000 vote lead with only 15% of precincts to be counted (several of which are in KC and STL). Unless Clay County goes really red, I think she'll win. So now it comes down to Montana. Democrat Tester has a lead of just under 10,000 on the incumbent Republican Burns; however, there are still 39% of precincts left and plenty of Republican areas are among those precincts; this race should come down to the wire.

[Jeffrey Hill]

In Missouri, Claire has a 25,000 vote lead with only 15% of precincts to be counted (several of which are in KC and STL). Unless Clay County goes really red, I think she'll win. So now it comes down to Montana.

Clay County has most results posted to the election board website and it's about 52% McCaskill... Here

[DeckardCain]

And the major media outlets are officially calling MO in favor of McCaskill.

[STPickrell]

Tester wins MT so now it is time for the Running of the Lawyers.

Last year the Attorney General race in VA was 300 votes -- the recount switched like 50 of those votes. VA has historically run clean elections -- the Byrd Organization (guy from Winchester that basically ran the state between the 1930s and 1960s) was able to win honestly as were the Republicans in the 1970s and 1980s.

Of course the out of state types weren't descending on Virginia then.

I honestly believe that 5-7,000 votes will be harder to prove wrong than the 300-400 votes that were the case in Florida 2000. Plus VA has mostly electronic non-Diebold machines along with the older lever machines.

[LibertyMarie]

when does missouri's new minimum wage go into effect?

[jcarkeys]

when does missouri's new minimum wage go into effect?

January 1, 2007.