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Webb Wins U.S. Senate Seat in Virginia, Allen Expected to Concede Today

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228343,00.html

Webb Wins U.S. Senate Seat in Virginia, Allen Expected to Concede Today

Thursday , November 09, 2006

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Democrat Jim Webb has won the U.S. Senate race in Virginia, defeating incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen and giving Democrats control of the Congress for the first time since 1994.

Montana's Republican Senate seat shifted into the Democratic column Wednesday afternoon, giving the party control of 50 seats and leaving Virginia as the lone roadblock to a Democratic sweep or a Republican split of Congress.

Democratic challenger John Tester claimed victory in Montana, besting three-term Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns.

In Virginia, the State Board of Elections announced it would not certify the outcome of the race between the Allen and Webb until Nov. 27, after which recounts could begin. There are no automatic recounts in Virginia. The candidates were separated by about 7,800 votes out of more than 2.3 million cast, with indications from both camps that any final outcome could wind up in court.

Webb is a former Republican who served as Navy secretary in the Reagan administration. A count by The Associated Press showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Allen was awaiting the result statewide postelection canvass of votes and did not concede the race as of 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

However, sources close to Allen told FOX News on Wednesday evening that the incumbent doesn't intend to "drag this out," and that he could concede as early as Thursday afternoon.

Allen would be the last of six GOP incumbents to lose re-election bids in a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president and the war in Iraq.

After 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party, the shift dramatically alters the government's balance of power, leaving President Bush without GOP congressional control to drive his legislative agenda. Democrats hailed the results and issued calls for bipartisanship even as they vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.

Democrats had 229 seats in the House, 11 more than the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the 435-member chamber.

"In Iraq and here at home, Americans have made clear they are tired of the failures of the last six years," said Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, in line to become Senate Majority leader when Congress reconvenes in January.

As watershed elections go, this one rivaled the GOP's takeover in 1994, which made Newt Gingrich speaker of the House, the first Republican to run the House since the Eisenhower administration. This time the shift comes in the midst of an unpopular war, a Congress scarred by scandal and just two years from a wide-open presidential contest.

Democrats will have nine new senators on their side of the aisle as a result of Tuesday's balloting. Six of them defeated sitting Republican senators from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Montana and Virginia. The other three replaced retiring senators from Maryland, Minnesota and Vermont.

Their ideologies are as varied as their home states. Bernie Sanders, an independent who will replace Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, is a Socialist who has served in the House and voted with Democrats since 1990. Bob Casey Jr., who defeated Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, is an anti-abortion moderate. Webb once declared that the sight of President Clinton returning a Marine's salute infuriated him.

Besides the Webb-Allen race, the Montana Senate contest also was too tight to call early Wednesday. But by midday, Democrat Jon Tester outdistanced Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who had to fight off campaign miscues as well as his ties to Jack Abramoff, the once super-lobbyist caught in an influence-peddling scheme.

In the House, 10 races remained too tight to call, with three of them leaning to the Democrats. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who would become the first female speaker in history, called for harmony and said Democrats would not abuse their new status.

She said she would be "the speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Democrats." She said Democrats would aggressively conduct oversight of the administration, but said any talk of impeachment of President Bush "is off the table."

In the Senate, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the head of the Democrats' Senate campaign committee, said, "We had a tough and partisan election, but the American people and every Democratic senator — and I've spoken to just about all of them — want to work with the president in a bipartisan way."

• Click here to visit YOU DECIDE 2006, FOXNews.com's complete election center.

• Check Your State, Check Your Race by clicking the BALANCE OF POWER dropdown menu above.

Despite the "thumpin" Bush said Republicans took in the House and the possibility of also losing control of the Senate, Bush on Wednesday vowed to reach out to Democrats to show the American people that things can get done, no matter the makeup of the legislative and executive branch.

"As the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility," Bush told reporters at the White House.

"I told my party's leaders that it is now our duty to put the elections behind us and work together with the Democrats and independents on the great issues facing this country," he continued, saying he called Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, the putative speaker of the House, early Wednesday morning to congratulate her on her party's gains and to voice his desire to working with Democrats to find "common ground."

"As the majority party in the House of Representatives, they recognize that in their new role they now have greater responsibilities," he said, joking that his first act of bipartisan outreach since the election was sharing with Pelosi the names of some Republican interior decorators.

For her part, Pelosi promised that "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history."

Reid said Americans "have come to the conclusion, as we did some time ago, that a one-party town simply doesn't work."

Other phone calls Bush made Wednesday were to Reid and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, of Illinois, House Minority Whip Congressman Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. He said their party did a "superb job" of turning out their votes. Both Reid and Durbin were invited to the White House on Friday for a coffee meeting.

"I congratulated them on running a strong campaign in the Senate. And I told them that, regardless of the final outcome, we can work together over the next two years," Bush said.

The White House described all the phones call with Democrats as a nature of "goodwill."

Pelosi is set to become the first female speaker of the House. Hoyer of Maryland announced he will run for the majority leader post, the second in command in the House.

The president invited Democratic leaders to come to the White House in the coming days to talk about the agenda for next year. Pelosi and Hoyer were invited to join the president for lunch at the White House on Thursday so they can "start to strategize on how to work together."

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Sarge

Sarge

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Posted

Bush. What a loser. He had complete control of the Congress for six years, and wasted almost completely

But hey, I think Webb stole the election. Send this to the courts! See who was turned away from the polls! Let's count some chad!

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Midnight Judges

Midnight Judges

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I was listening to Republican radio today and they honestly have no clue why Allen lost. Allen never represented Virginians as a whole. He only represented his own personal political ambitions, and that caused him to only care about appearing loyal to the Republican party, and not the commonwealth. In the lead up to the Iraq war Allen called in Jim Webb to confer on the vote that would take place. Jim Webb wisely told Allen this war in Iraq would be a quagmire. The Iraqi people would not welcome us, this would not be a cakewalk, and thousands of our troops would perish. Allen told Webb "You are asking me to be disloyal to my party." So here he was, thousands of lives on the line, and all he freakin' cares about is party loyalty! :doh: That is why Allen lost. Because issues mean nothing to him, self-advancement is everything. The complete polar opposite of the other Senator from Virginia, the beloved John Warner. John Warner is the chairman of the armed services committee. John Warner put forth legislation and sponsored bills, John Warner negotiated torture policy with the President, John Warner answers the tough questions with specific answers without lashing out at people.

What did George Allen do in the Senate? What committe was he active in? What major legislation did he sponsor? What was his main issue that he was compassionate and active about? The answer is nada, zip, zilch. All he did was kiss up to the President, rubber stamp every Bush policy without giving any of them a second thought, kiss up to the Republican pary leaders, and try to advance his own poitical career. In the process he alienated every Virginian who is not a card-carrying Republican.

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Sarge

Sarge

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In the lead up to the Iraq war Allen called in Jim Webb to confer on the vote that would take place. Jim Webb wisely told Allen this war in Iraq would be a quagmire. The Iraqi people would not welcome us, this would not be a cakewalk, and thousands of our troops would perish. Allen told Webb "You are asking me to be disloyal to my party." So here he was, thousands of lives on the line, and all he freakin' cares about is party loyalty!

Link?

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Zen-like Todd

Zen-like Todd

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Link?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061023/moser

Webb's gonzo campaign--chaotic, underfunded and featuring a candidate who refuses to pander or even, at many campaign appearances, to so much as crack a smile--grew out of his exasperation with Allen's unwavering support for George W. Bush's Iraq adventure. Webb had been warning against military intervention in Iraq, insisting that it would destabilize the Middle East and spawn dangerous anti-Americanism, since the late 1980s. After he wrote an op-ed in September 2002 predicting US invasion forces would "quickly become 50,000 terrorist targets," Webb met with the senator--whom he had endorsed over Democrat Charles Robb in 2000--to discuss his concerns. Webb came away with his dander up, disgusted by Allen's reportedly insisting, "You're asking me to be disloyal to my President."
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codeorama

codeorama

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Posted
Link?

I know I started a thread yesterday that had a link to my local paper, the Daily Press, and they had that story...

FWIW, I agree with Midnight Judges on why Allen lost.

Warner is an excellent senator, Allen sucked. I voted for him last time and did not this time...

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Sarge

Sarge

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I know I started a thread yesterday that had a link to my local paper, the Daily Press, and they had that story...

FWIW, I agree with Midnight Judges on why Allen lost.

Warner is an excellent senator, Allen sucked. I voted for him last time and did not this time...

Guess who I voted for?

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McMetal

McMetal

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All politics aside, as an educated Virginian I simply could never vote for any politician who was foolish enough to use a racial slur, veiled, made-up or otherwise, in regard to a person of color in public.

That's Politics 101 - never say anything that could even be remotely construed as controversial about any ethnic, cultural, or religious group. Anyone that commit such a horrendous gaffe is not worthy of serving the public's trust. Just idiotic.

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