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The Reporters: US mid-terms

All entries by this reporter: The Reporters

Mid-terms blog of blogs


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.

Mid-terms blog of blogs


, blogging at the National Review, puts a brave face on the Republicans' election defeat: "Sometimes you'll be convinced you have fantastic arguments, and the other guy doesn't know what he's talking about. And yet sometimes they choose the other guy. Sometimes you lose. It stinks, but it happens."

greets the nomination of Bob Gates as Donald Rumsfeld's replacement at the Pentagon with some disbelief, recalling his days as CIA chief while new Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega headed the Sandinista rebels during the 1980s. "History doesn鈥檛 just repeat itself; it repeats itself with the same exact people."

welcomes the new-look Congress, calling the Democrats' win "a glimmer of light after being lost in the forest for two long years". But he is quick to assert that the vote was really an anti-Republican protest, not a pro-Democrat swing.

, though, laments the Democratic rise, insisting that just because core Republican voters were upset with President Bush, there was no need to put "the worst of the worst" into leadership positions.

Mid-terms blog of blogs


Daily Kos declares "Victory Open Thread!" and sums up its jubilant mood with a photo of a wave captioned "Ride it... you've earned it". ()

Blogs for Bush argues that a Democratic House will not be a major obstacle for the president but it predicts an endless stream of Congressional investigations and "the attempted criminalisation of being a conservative". ()

Andrew Sullivan says the election is a clear message for President Bush to sack his defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld: "Fire him; and reach out to the Democrats and moderate Republicans in order to form a strategy for victory or stability in Iraq." ()

More live-blogging


Our colleagues over at 大象传媒 Radio Five Live have been the election with David Adesnik () and Amanda Terkel (), including an exclusive take on the election by Mr Burns (no, not Montana Senator Conrad Burns - the one from ).

Mid-terms blog of blogs


Wonkette captions a photo from New Mexico showing incumbent Republican Representative Heather Wilson handling a newborn infant amid a crowd of smiling voters: "Rep Heather Wilson gives out an infant to a potential supporter". ()

Captain's Quarters argues the Democrats will find themselves in a fix if they fail to win convincing majorities across Congress: If they win by a only small majority in the House, their policies will be dictated by conservative Democrats while if they lose, they will tear themselves apart in a hail of recriminations. ()

Washington Monthly predicts a "perfect storm" in key battleground Missouri where the new Diebold voting machines, it reports, created problems within an hour of polling stations opening: "Having run out of options, poll workers told voters to vote manually and stuff the ballot box." ()

Covering the election


Over on the 大象传媒's editors' blog, world news editor Jon Williams has been blogging about preparing to cover the election results...

    "Tonight we'll get our information from our US sister network ABC. It's a military style operation - and true to form, we've embedded some 大象传媒 staff with our American friends. They'll be the key points of liaison for information from field producers and the Quarantine Room, as it becomes available throughout the evening."

Click here to read Jon's entry in full.

Mid-terms blog of blogs


The Carpetbagger Report is furious about automated nuisance calls allegedly coming from the Republican Party but pretending to be from Democratic candidates.

Macsmind responds to a New York Times article about automated calls with an acerbic comment about dead people appearing on voter rolls: At least Republicans call live people.

Hoffman's Hearsay has a joke about a barber giving free haircuts - and how it shows not to vote for Democrats.

Mid-terms blog of blogs


California Conservative says that the Democrats' pouring resources into races they were once considered unlikely to win is not a sign the tide is shifting in their favour - it is an indication "they wouldn't know a safe seat from a vulnerable one if their life depended on it".

But Five Before Chaos is so delighted at the scandals wracking the Republican party, he wants to postpone the election for a week "so we can have a few more gifts - pleeeeze".

Finally, Blacknell laments that the entire US political system is broken: "Maybe it's just because we, as a society, don't give a damn about democracy anymore."

Mid-terms blog of blogs


Firedoglake uses a video of a John F Kennedy speech to argue Americans can demand better from their government by voting for Democrats.

But Lake Minnetonka Liberty says John Kerry's comment on education and the war in Iraq is "pretty much what all Democrats believe" - calling them the "party of hate".

And Martin Manley at Jam Side Down looks ahead to 2008, where he sees only four serious contenders for the presidency - all of whom he likes more than "the guy we've got now".

Mid-terms blog of blogs


Nuke Gingrich weighs in on the debate over John Kerry's comment about education and the war in Iraq, saying his explanations fail the smell test: "There is no indication, at all, that this was a joke."

Media Girl takes John Kerry's side in the feud over who should apologise to the troops, saying she wants an apology from those who won the 2000 and 2004 elections "for lying about pretty much everything".

Cine Classics uses the impending election to reflect on two films that have influenced American politics, Fail Safe and Dr Strangelove.

Mid-terms blog of blogs


Blackwhite: The president's warning that a Democratic victory means defeat in Iraq is a sign that the Republican fear machine is sputtering and grinding itself into incoherent fear-mongering pieces in the final week of this campaign.

Hyscience: The Democrats have somehow forgotten that neither President Bush nor the Republicans are the enemy - the Islamic terrorists that are murdering people throughout Iraq and elsewhere throughout the world are.

No Matter What They Tell Us has a joke about an Indian chief in training to become a member of Congress.

Mid-terms elections news


Washington Post: This year's negative campaign advertising is eccentric, filled with allegations of moral bankruptcy and sexual perversion.

Los Angeles Times: As it looks more likely that Democrats will take control of Congress, pro-business groups have found a sudden urge to donate to their campaigns. (Registration required)

USA Today: Officials are working to avoid a repeat of breakdowns in voting technology that were seen earlier this year.

Mid-terms election news


New York Times: The strain of the race is showing in gaffes and angry words, just when potential voters are paying the most attention.

USA Today: The New Jersey Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage may give a boost to campaigns to outlaw it in eight other states.

St Louis Post-Dispatch: The Democrats are trying to get sympathetic voters to the polls with another ballot measure in six states, on the minimum wage.

Citizen journalism


Our colleagues at 大象传媒 Radio Five Live's Up All Night programme would like to work collaboratively with bloggers, podcasters and ordinary people with a real interest in politics to help them tell the whole story of this election, and cut through some of the stereotypes about the way Americans view the issues.

If you'd like to be part of the programme's efforts to cover the mid-terms, then read the post about what they are hoping to achieve on their blog, then drop a line to upallnight@bbc.co.uk telling them a little bit about yourself.

Mid-terms elections news


Washington Times: Democrats struggle not to be overconfident about the mid-terms, having been surprised by defeats in the last two elections.

Washington Post: President Bush tries to rally his conservative base by inviting dozens of sympathetic talk show hosts to the White House.

Orlando Sentinel: President Bush raised $1m for the Republican National Committee at a private event in Florida - his 44th trip to the Sunshine State as president.

Mid-terms elections news


USA Today: Voters are paying more attention to national issues - the war and the economy - than in any previous mid-term election.

Washington Post: Independents are leaning towards the Democrats by a margin of two to one, a poll suggests.

New York Daily News: Hillary Clinton's long-shot Senate rival denies saying she had plastic surgery, while the senator says she was "cute" in high school.

Mid-term elections news


New York Times: With many Republicans gloomy about their prospects next month, George W Bush has become the party's optimist-in-chief.

Washington Times: Emotions are running high in Tennessee, where voters could decide which party controls the Senate.

Newsweek: The polls suggest a tidal wave sweeping the Democrats into power, but Jonathan Alter is not convinced it's going to happen.

Mid-terms elections news


New York Times: Various factions within the Republican coalition are already blaming each other for next month's expected defeat - a feud one conservative has dubbed "pre-criminations".

Washington Post: The Virginia Senate candidates are getting endorsements from the highest possible backers - George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Los Angeles Times: Republican leaders in California's Orange County are distancing themselves from their own House candidate after he is linked to a racially charged campaign letter.

Mid-terms elections news


USA Today: Old-fashioned television advertising remains the "nuclear weapon" of politics, campaigners say, even in a multi-media age.

Washington Times: Conservative voters may stay at home on Election Day, disillusioned with both President Bush and Congress.

New York Times: Election officials across the country are bracing for confusion due to new voting machines.

Mid-terms elections news


Washington Post: Both Republicans and Democrats wonder what would happen if Democrats take control of Congress next month, leaving George W Bush a lame duck.

Washington Times: Top Republican strategist Karl Rove is not worrying about that possibility.

NPR: Voters say corruption is among the most important issues in determining how they will vote in November.

Mid-terms elections news


Philadelphia Inquirer: The suspicion of corruption in Congress spreads as the FBI raids the home of the daughter of a congressman in a tight re-election battle.

Associated Press: Not only Republican representatives are facing sleaze allegations - a top Democratic senator is under fire as well.

New York Times: Unlikely as it seems, a top White House official is a hero to a six-year-old girl in Kansas - as well as being a key fundraiser.

Mid-term elections news


Los Angeles Times: The threat that one of the Senate's most socially conservative Republicans may lose his seat has turned into "four-alarm fire for conservatives".

New York Times: Meanwhile, Republicans have all but given up on another embattled senator and are shifting money and energy elsewhere.

Washington Times: A hard-line immigration control group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting candidates, much of it through private companies with ties to a well-known conservative activist.

Mid-terms elections news


Bloomberg: The decision not to run for president in 2008 by former Virginia Gov Mark Warner - seen as one of the Democrats' most plausible alternatives to Hillary Clinton - may reflect the New York senator's overwhelming early edge.

Chicago Sun-Times blogger Lynn Sweet: President Bush stands firm with the embattled speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, who is under fire for his handling of the Mark Foley page scandal - but do either of them have any coattails to ride?

MSNBC: A guilty plea being filed today by a congressman - to be followed by a court date for a former White House official - will keep disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the news less than a month before elections.

Mid-term elections news


New York Times: The fallout over ex-Rep Mark Foley and his e-mails to teenaged pages may be affecting a race in Ohio - where other scandals are already hurting the Republicans.

Washington Post: Cartoonist Tom Toles jabs at how the Foley scandal is threatening to drag down House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Chicago Tribune: President Bush makes his first public appearance with Mr Hastert since the Foley scandal broke.

Mid-term elections news


LA Times: Rural areas of Missouri and other states in Bush country could hold the key to a Senate turnover for Democrats. ()

The Hill: White House politico Karl Rove has raised more than $12 million for GOP candidates this election cycle. ()

Pew Research Center: Turnout in the 2006 mid-term elections may well be higher than normal, given the level of interest expressed by voters in the latest polling. ()

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