Filibuster Alive in Georgia
ATLANTA—Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight.
Chambliss’ victory thwarted Democrats’ hopes of winning a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It came after a bitter month long runoff against Democrat Jim Martin that drew political luminaries from both parties to the state and flooded the airwaves with fresh attack ads weeks after campaigns elsewhere had ended.
Minnesota—where a recount is under way—now remains the only unresolved Senate contest in the country. But the stakes there are significantly lower now that Georgia has put a 60-seat Democratic supermajority out of reach.
With 70 percent of the precincts reporting, Chambliss captured 60 percent to Martin’s 40 percent. Chambliss’ win is a rare bright spot for Republicans in a year where they lost the White House as well as seats in the House and the Senate.
CNN has it with 99% of votes in at 57-43 with Chambliss winning by 300,000 votes in an election with half as many ballots cast as the original election which Chambliss led by 125,000 votes.
This says something—
Either Republicans were much more successful in a GOTV campaign
—or—
Democrats have a tougher time committing fraud in off cycle elections
—or—
Democrats are not as anxious to have that filibuster proof majority as one might think
—or—
Republicans and Independents are scared shitless by one party having that much power and came out and voted in force
I am not sure which explanation fits, but the reality is that with this race, Minnesota becomes a little less embattled. Another 200 ballots showed up today, miraculously and we still must wait for Coleman to finally win the damned thing, but 56-42-2 is a little better than 58-40-2.
