- Richard Greene
- 10 Nov 06, 09:57 PM
Well, the mid-terms have come and gone, a wave crashing over the country, Congress, the White House and a bunch of very over-worked 大象传媒 journalists.
With the voting over, this blog is wrapping up too - but first, thanks are due to many.
I personally wouldn't have made it through the election season without , which works overtime to keep the politicians honest (more power to you!), and Larry J Sabato's , whose predictions were uncannily accurate.
Thanks also to everyone who made this blog such a success - the 15 大象传媒 journalists who cheerfully added it to their already huge list of responsibilities, and to you readers who contributed over 3,000 comments on everything from the economics of the oil business to where to get grits in London.
This blog may be closing up shop now, but keep your eyes peeled - Matt Frei resumes his Washington diary next week. Look for him on Wednesday.
Till then, good night, and good luck.
Richard Greene is the 大象传媒 News website's Washington reporter
- Jamie Coomarasamy
- 10 Nov 06, 05:06 PM
There was frustration with Iraq and concern about corruption - but you could argue that the real clincher for the Democrats, in the Senate at least, was the presence of mind of a young American of Indian descent.
When Virginia鈥檚 (now outgoing) Republican turned his gaze towards 20-year-old S R Siddarth - a 鈥渢racker鈥, filming the Allen campaign for his Democratic rival, Jim Webb - and referred to him as 鈥渕acaca鈥, a type of monkey, it turned the campaign on its head.
The footage of the incident became a and Senator Allen was accused - not for the first time - of casual racism.
He may have been able to shrug it off, were it not for his status as a potential presidential candidate and the awkward way he handled the later revelations of his Jewish heritage.
In a few short weeks, the senator went from being a shoo-in to getting booted out of office.
For their part, the Allen camp tried to portray their opponent as a sexist; using comments he鈥檇 made about women when he was in the Navy and passages from his novels as evidence. But it didn鈥檛 work.
A majority of Virginia鈥檚 women voters supported Jim Webb. And so - crucially, as it turned out - did a majority of independents. Six years ago, they鈥檇 largely swung towards George Allen.
What role the macaca moment played in all of this is hard to judge, but it was a reminder that race is still a politically volatile issue here. And - in the contest which finally deprived the Republicans of their Senate majority - it may have even been a decisive one.
Jamie Coomarasamy is a Washington correspondent for 大象传媒 News.
- The Reporters
- 10 Nov 06, 04:26 PM
Top liberal blogger the Daily Kos dissects the tensions within the Democratic camp over campaign strategy, but says anyone who does not think there is plenty of credit to go around is an idiot.
But the conservative MacsMind denies there was a Democratic wave on Tuesday, saying the party "perpetuated fraud" by running conservative Democrats in order to get "the uber left into power".
PolCenter cannot understand why President Bush waited until after the elections to get rid of Donald Rumsfeld.
And The FiveForty says John Bolton is another casualty of election night, with an outgoing senator stabbing at him from hell's heart.
