Election hangover...

No booze needed. :)

I don't know about you, but I'm thoroughly whipped tonight.

Monday was about the Michael J. Fox rally and phonebanking. Four hours of sleep.

Tuesday was about GOTV in Mesa, checking on a couple of local polling places (all OK - nothing "unseemly" happens in Scottsdale. Just ask the City Council.), and hours spent watching returns in Tempe. Four more hours of sleep.

Today was about getting back to a semblance of normalcy - classes and an interview for a small promotion at work (bombed it - I was as unprepared for the interview as I have ever been for anything in my life, and I'm OK with that) and helping the Mitchell campaign clean out their volunteer office in back of the main campaign office.

Tomorrow is a crash and study day (studying is something I really should do this semester, once or twice anyway. :) )

Random observations, reports, and thoughts on the election and stuff related (my brain is too fried for a coherent post on one subject)...

...Spoke to a few people today. The Mitchell campaign expects to have a clearer idea of what is happening with the vote count by Friday. Will update as information becomes available.

...Got to see Harry today. You can tell he's both excited about the apparent win and nervous about the ballot counting. You can also see that he is handling this in a calm, professional manner.

...Got to see JD on TV tonight. He's a smarmy SOB who still hasn't gotten the message. (Yeah, I know I'm biased, but that doesn't mean that I'm wrong.)

...AZ Rep report on the election and ballot count here.

...JD has an "important campaign update" on his website, but it's just in a box on the main page of the site. If you want to read it, go to his website.

...Assuming the results hold up (and there will be some serious screaming from here to D.C. if they don't), Harry will move from being one of the elder statesmen, even "legend", of Arizona politics, to being a freshman Congressman. One of many in a large incoming class (yes!!) of them.

Hope the Dem leadership in D.C. understands that in Harry's case, "freshman" isn't synonymous with "inexperienced."

...Let me say this, again assuming the results hold up...actually, even if they don't...Harry Mitchell could not have asked for a better opponent to run an uphill campaign against. He didn't need JD to make a mistake; he only needed to run the people- and issues-oriented campaign that he knows how to run and let JD be JD.

And JD cooperated fully by running a fear- and distortion-oriented campaign. Sending belligerent and offensive substitutes to a forum in a Jewish temple and openly trying to bully Harry during their meeting with the AZ Republic's editorial board would have been labeled as mistakes for any other campaign, but they were typical JD.

...Speaking of JD's style, abandoning his supporters at the Rep election-night party with nary a word of thanks when the upset became evident was utterly classless, even by his standards. In contrast, late Tuesday evening when it became apparent to the Mitchell camp that the results wouldn't be finalized that night, Harry graciously thanked his family, volunteers, and supporters.

And he did it both from the podium and in the crowd.

If JD ever wants to run for elected office again, there are some lessons for him to learn here.

...Ed Ableser, David Schapira, and the other downballot Dems in LD17 should thank Harry for their wins on Tuesday. His presence on the ballot against an almost universally disliked demagogue inspired a huge Dem turnout in the district. They worked hard, but so did the Reps. This time around, there were a lot more Democratic and Independent voters listening.

Actually, I expect that they already thanked him (they're all smart people) but it's something that the rest of us should consider. Instead of two years of watching Laura Knaperek work to further the agenda of the extremist wing of the Republican Party at the expense of the citizens of the district (and the state!), we'll have two Reps who'll fight for the district, first and foremost.

Please note that I haven't mentioned our new State Senator, Meg Burton-Cahill, yet. Let's face facts, she was probably going to win even if no Dem ran for CD5. Rose Crutcher seemed to be a decent human being, and was certainly a good candidate, but Meg would have had to do something crazy/stupid like endorse JD, to lose.

...Did this election make Nancy Pelosi golden, or what? She raised money for a lot of candidates, plus, in many races, the Republicans ran against *her* as much as the Democrat who was actually on the ballot.

And got their butts handed to them for their efforts.

I heard a rumor months ago that Steny Hoyer, the current House minority whip, was mulling a run at Speaker if the Dems took control of the House. At this point, I'd be surprised if he wasted his political capital on a fight against the virtually untouchable Pelosi.

I don't know much about either one, but personally, I'd love to see her as Speaker.

If only to watch Reps everywhere rip out their hair in frustration. :))

...The Reps probably aren't too happy with all of the pictures of a smiling Howard Dean that are all over TV and the internet tonight either.

Wonder if Gov. Dean is considering another run at the Presidency after last night?

...Oh, and thanks to fellow hard-working volunteer Peter C. for his comment with the date of this quote by Greg at the right-leaning Espresso Pundit.

On June 29th, he wrote "You will see a UFO before you see a newly elected white Democratic Congressman from Texas or Arizona. "

Ummm...I supposed he could make a case that his statement isn't false yet, because Gabrielle Giffords isn't a CongressMAN, but what about Harry?

Later!!