How Many in the Senate?

I'm still taking in the victory, and it seems like I'm not alone. People all over the country seem to be taking a look to see where this new administration might take us.

I said last night that there were some other races I'd been watching, and surprisingly, even 24 hours later, not all of them have been resolved. Democrat Jeff Merkely has defeated sitting Republican Senator Gordon Smith in Oregon. I'd expected Smith to fall, and I was a bit surprised that he lasted a long enough to keep the suspense up. I'd thought he'd have gone fairly quickly.

Going in, I hadn't been sure whether Democrat Al Franken would defeat Republican Norm Coleman for Minnesota senator or not, and now, twenty-four hours later, we still don't. Coleman is up less than 500 (out of nearly three million),so it's headed toward a recount. It goes without saying, but a Franken win would up the entertainment factor on C-SPAN by 700 percent (when you've got as little entertainment value as there is on C-SPAN, very small shifts can cause exponential changes).

Georgia's Senator Saxby Chambliss looks to stay on the hot seat a little while longer, since he hasn't quite pulled together a majority of votes. Without an actual majority, the race turns to a run-off, although I'd be fairly surprised of Chambliss doesn't end up having the organization necessary to win there.

If there's one state that seems to have a more tarnished reputation after the election than it did before, I'd have to say that it's Alaska. First, we got to see Alaska Governor Sarah Palin more up close and personal than we might've preferred (although not so close that we actually got to see her answer questions from reporters in an anything-goes press conference), and now voters there seem to be insisting on returning convicted felon Ted Stevens to office. This appears to be a classic case of, "You can't tell us who we can vote for." No, I guess we can't. But if they vote for someone currently awaiting sentencing, Harry Reid can prevent him from taking his seat. Voting hasn't been completely counted up there yet, so we're not sure, but this race could continue to give us plenty of drama.