fivethirtyeight (Free subscription) | 4 hours ago
Since our post earlier this afternoon suggesting that Norm Coleman was the slight favorite to win the recount , Al Franken has gotten three pieces of good news which cloud the picture and may tilt the probabilities in his favor. The first is that, according to TPM's Eric Kleefeld, the Franken campaign estimated that it was just 50 ballots behind as of this morning, assuming that all challenges...
Vox Verax (Free subscription) | 11/26/2008
from TPM By Eric Kleefeld - November 25, 2008, 1:30PM A key new development in Minnesota: The Franken campaign is now giving an actual figure for what they think their true current deficit against Norm Coleman is -- an estimated statistic that has proven elusive in this drawn-out process. "The differential between the two candidates is 84 votes," lead Franken recount lawyer Marc Elias...
ChooseTheHero.com (Free subscription) | 11/27/2008
... will indefinitely continue. Elias, whose comments were first reported by Talking Points Memo’s Eric Kleefeld , signaled their readiness to take their fight to, of all places, the United States Senate: There are a number of ways this can happen, whether it is at the county level, before the state canvassing board, before the courts of Minnesota, or before the United States Senate,...
The Northstar Chronicle (Free subscription) | 11/21/2008
Eric Kleefeld over at TPM analyzes some very interesting Gallup Poll data and comes to this tongue-in-cheek schaedenfreude conclusion: A separate question in the data set showed 59% of Republicans saying the party needs to be more conservative, compared to only 12% who say the party should be less conservative. So not only is the pool [...]
The Mahablog (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008
Henry Waxman is taking the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee away from John Dingell, and the leftie blogosphere is happy. Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld are calling it a “Big Win For Liberals.” Matt Yglesias says, “Let the experimentation with socialism begin.” Heh.
The Mississippifarian (Free subscription) | 11/18/2008
... the recount works out in Franken’s favor, and then Coleman tries to challenge the result in court. Eric Kleefeld This approach, of course, gives new meaning to Gov. Pawlenty’s recent recanting of earlier remarks attacking the integrity of the vote counting process. Invalidated ballots are probably Franken’s best shot, but it’s a strategy that ensures maximum partisan rancor in a state...
Political Animal (Free subscription) | 11/17/2008
... state, but Martin's new ad emphasizes Chambliss' opposition to Obama's economic plan -- twice. As Eric Kleefeld , "The rub here is that this runoff is similar in many ways to a special election, which is all about mobilizing the base. And Martin sees here an opportunity to capitalize on Obama's honeymoon period in order to get Democratic voters out to the polls for a second time."For...
Talking Points Memo (Free subscription) | 11/05/2008
1:57 AM ... Our in-house number cruncher, Eric Kleefeld, says it's looking better and better for Franken. At this moment, our results map has Franken down by less than 2k votes. But Eric says the areas yet to fully report...
Jeff Weintraub (Free subscription) | 11/06/2008
Assuming that these projections hold up, this is a Big Deal ... and one more sign of a real political watershed. Eric Kleefeld of TPM reports: Barack Obama has won North Carolina, according to projections from NBC News , the New York Times and the Associated Press , with Obama leading by 14,000 votes out of over 4.2 million cast. Not everyone has called the race yet, but assuming Obama's...
Talking Points Memo (Free subscription) | 11/05/2008
... 4:26 AM ... Now that the "Bradley Effect" seems set for a richly deserved retirement, TPM Reporter Eric Kleefeld suggests christening the "Stevens Effect" -- the poll distorting effect of poll respondents unwillingness to admit they will vote for the convicted felon in the race. 4:41 AM ... Down to the skeleton crew here at TPM. We're still following the Minn senate race. Franken...
The Progressive Puppy (Free subscription) | 10/26/2008
... pretender Joe I'll-Say-Anything Lieberman has been easing off on the anti-Obama rhetoric. Eric Kleefeld at TPM wonders why: "An interesting pattern now seems to be coming from Joe Lieberman : He is now reminding us all how much he respects Barack Obama, even if he's for John McCain this time around... So the big question here, really, is what happened in the last few weeks that turned...
Firedoglake (Free subscription) | 10/26/2008
The most recent CBS/New York Times poll finds Obama now leading McCain by 13 percent, 52 to 39 percent among likely voters. But the most interesting result is how respondents react to McCain's anti-tax campaign. (h/t to Eric Kleefeld at TPM ): Do you think it is a good idea or a bad idea to raise income taxes on households and businesses that make MORE than $250,000 a year in order to...
Creative Destruction (Free subscription) | 10/21/2008
TPM's Eric Kleefeld, via Mark Thoma , writes ...Sarah Palin derided Barack Obama's and Joe Biden's tax policies yesterday, telling a rally in New Mexico, "Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism." Note: Sarah Palin is the governor of a state that practices collective ownership of oil and other natural resources, and equally distributes the state's cut of the revenues to every...
A Spork in the Drawer (Free subscription) | 10/22/2008
... Michele's problems now. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has abandoned her. Eric Kleefeld: Bachmann could still potentially win, as this district voted 57%-42% for George W. Bush in 2004. But she's now on her own. It's a rare thing for a national party to totally cut off an incumbent, so this should give you an idea of just how unpopular Bachmann is among Washington...
